Drug Addiction and Drug Rehab in Sarasota, Florida

On the Gulf Coast of Florida, Sarasota is positioned on the beach like a sparkling jewel. This lovely and affluent Sarasota County has about 426,000 residents and the City of Sarasota has 58,000. Based on Florida’s rate of overdose deaths of 35 per 100,000 residents, the city can expect about 20 deaths each year.¹ The county will probably experience about 149 deaths.

These numbers can’t relay the loss suffered by the families of these individuals, or by their friends or their communities. The ones losing their lives are sons, daughters, parents, grandparents, businesspeople, students, doctors, nurses, cab drivers, teachers, coaches and salespeople. They can be anyone of any educational level, professional, retired or just starting out. What they have in common is the use of drugs or alcohol, perhaps as part of addiction or perhaps for the very first time.

There are two services needed to end these losses. The first is drug rehab that works, that gives the person their life back. The second is effective drug prevention and education to save those people who lose their lives before they ever have a chance to get addicted to anything.

Drug Rehab in Sarasota

Florida has one of the highest numbers of drug rehabilitation centers in the country. While most of them are grouped around the Gold Coast (Miami and the surrounding area) and Treasure Coast just to the north, there are several Sarasota County choices.

What should a person look for in a drug rehab program? While there are some common characteristics of effective drug rehabs, the final choice a person makes often depends on the situation in which they find themselves.

Some people have no choice but to continue working or caring for children while they attend services at a drug rehab. These individuals might choose an outpatient program with a schedule they can manage.

A person who needs more supervision and support is often better off at a residential drug rehab facility. This type of rehab will make it much more difficult to be tempted by drugs or alcohol. There will be overnight supervision and monitoring. Some people need this type of around-the-clock support until they begin to rebuild their new sober life. Especially until they get through the cravings that drive people back to drugs, they have counselors and staff they can rely on.

Some people find their support in self-managing groups. This includes rehab programs like therapeutic communities in which those in recovery help run the group under the supervision of professionals. Others find support groups that exist in nearly every city and town across the country.

Depending on which drugs were being used and the health and stability of the person breaking free from drugs, the first days of sobriety might be started in a medical detox or hospital. For an alcoholic with high daily consumption or a person who is addicted to benzodiazepines like Valium or Xanax, medical support might be needed to prevent seizures.

Florida’s Drug Challenges

Every month about 13 percent of Floridians use an illicit drug. Like everywhere else, the most susceptible age bracket for drug use ages 18 to 25. In this age bracket, one in four use an illicit drug. The most common illicit drug everywhere is marijuana and it’s no different in Florida. Every year, one in three people in this age group will use marijuana.²

Six percent of this age group uses a drug other than marijuana every month. The most common “other” drugs are cocaine and prescription pain relievers.

The misuse of prescription drugs is a dangerous practice these days since the Drug Enforcement Administration reports that counterfeit pharmaceutical products that actually contain potent doses of fentanyl are flooding the illicit market. All it takes to kill a person who is not accustomed to using opioids is two milligrams of fentanyl. The DEA reports that four out of ten of these fake pills on the market contain that much fentanyl or more.³

In 2020, Sarasota County law enforcement officials called for greater funding as opioid overdose deaths jumped up, not only in Sarasota County but also across Florida.⁴

Then in July 2022, Florida’s Attorney General declared fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction due to the number of lives being lost in this state. This is not just the case in Florida, it is the case in state after state, across the country. Fentanyl is an opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.⁵

But, in fact, fentanyl is a large family of drugs. One of the most powerful forms is carfentanil which is approximately 10,000 times more potent than morphine. In 2018, the DEA warned Floridians that carfentanil was being found as a contaminant in cocaine supplies in Florida.⁶

So a person could intend to misuse a prescription drug they bought from a drug dealer or they could intend to get high at a party on cocaine and both times wind up with a fentanyl or carfentanil overdose. There is no safety in drug abuse. There never has been but in recent years in Florida as well as other states, the danger is more acute than ever.

Waste No Time in Selecting a Drug Rehab

When a family is losing a loved one to addiction, there is no time to waste. Any day could bring a fatal overdose. Some drug users know this and try to work out ways to avoid fentanyl. Others seek it out, in part because they no longer value their own lives.

To save this person’s life, they must arrive at the front door of a drug rehab facility at the first moment possible. If they refuse, families often do not realize that an intervention can turn the situation around and help that person change their mind.

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