By Chrystian Tejedor
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale)
Copyright 2006 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
Palm Beach County no longer leads the state in the number of deaths caused by cocaine, according to an interim report issued Friday by Florida medical examiners.
Still, the county had the most cocaine-related deaths in South Florida at 32. Broward County recorded 29 deaths and Miami-Dade County had 13, according to the report, which examines the first six months of 2006.
So far this year, Jacksonville and St. Petersburg lead the state with 43 and 40 cocaine-related deaths respectively.
During the same period in 2005, Palm Beach County recorded the same number of deaths, just behind statewide leader Broward County, which saw 35 deaths caused by cocaine.
The report also shows that for January to June 2006, drug-related deaths from Oxycodone were essentially flat and Hydrocodone and heroin registered a decrease.
Officials warn that looking to preliminary numbers may not provide a true picture of the entire year.
“The numbers look to me to be pretty similar to last year,” said Bill Janes, director of the state’s Office of Drug Control Policy. “On the other hand, when I looked at the interim report last year, those numbers were lower than they were for the second six months of the year.”
Palm Beach County’s numbers exploded after June 2005. The county recorded a total of 85 deaths caused by cocaine, 53 of them in the last half of the year.
Ultimately, Palm Beach County led the state last year in the number of deaths caused by cocaine. Broward County trailed with 73 and St. Petersburg with 59, the report shows.
Still, half-year totals can be useful for officials trying to gauge the effect drugs are having on deaths, Broward Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said.
“We get some idea of the magnitude, not a correct idea of the importance of drug-related deaths,” he said. “Drugs have the most impact on unnatural deaths, like homicides and accidents.”
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has taken note. In August, the sheriff appointed Detective Gary Martin to look into trends surrounding drug overdose deaths and to develop a plan to stem the tide.
While examining those types of cases for 2005, Martin saw that 80 percent of the people who died from drug overdoses have suffered from drug overdoses in the past but received medical treatment that saved their lives.
“Then they’re left without any consequences,” said Martin, who is also dean of student services at Lynn University. “Next time the person goes out, mom’s not home and we’re called instead of the paramedics.”
Another trend among drug abusers is that they often mix two or more drugs to get high, Martin said.
“Xanax, methodone and cocaine are particularly deadly,” he said.
That may unintentionally skew the number of deaths caused by cocaine in the report, Martin said, because medical examiners may check off cocaine and the other drugs found in a toxicology report and the state may count it several times.
Perper, meanwhile, said Florida can expect more drug-related deaths in the coming months.
“I see day in and day out people who died from drugs,” he said. “My impression is we are going to see an increase not a decrease [in drug-related deaths] at the end of the year but I may be wrong.”