The Opioid Epidemic and Florida\u27s Policies to Address It.

The Opioid Epidemic was ignited by Purdue Pharmaceutical’s prescription opioid Oxycontin in 1997, which initiated a nearly tenfold increase in non-cancer pain prescriptions by 2002 (Bhattacharya). This exponential growth had devastating effects on the United States, with millions of opioid addictions and almost 280,000 deaths from prescription opioids alone (“Opioid Overdose”). Florida emerged as the epicenter of this crisis, hosting 90 of the top 100 physicians ordering opioids (Reuter) and purchasing 85% of oxycodone sold to medical practitioners nationwide in 2010 (“Remarks at the Operation Pill Nation II Announcement”). State policies and DEA operations were initiated from 2010 to 2012 to combat the crisis (Johnson). However, the problems persisted, leading to the passage of House Bill 21 in 2018, limiting the supply of opioids to 3 days in most circumstances. Upon being implemented on July 1, 2018, there were immediately sharp decreases in the mean days’ supply and dispensing rates of opioids (Hincapie-Castillo, Potnuru). My project aims to demonstrate both the rapid spread of the opioid crisis and the effectiveness of policies put into place to address it. I used CDC and IQVIA Xponent data to map the number of opioid prescriptions per 100 people in Florida counties from 2006-2020 in ArcGIS, then presented these in a critical map via ArcGIS StoryMaps. Each map, accompanied by critical details and quotes from those affected, quantitatively and qualitatively highlights the crisis\u27s severity. The narrative concludes with assessing Florida’s actions to address the crisis and necessary efforts going forward.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2023fall/1030/thumbnail.jp