For nearly a decade, Marion County has consistently had one of the five highest drug overdose rates in the state, with the county having recorded over 1,500 overdose deaths since 2015.
According to the Florida Department of Health, the state has recorded 56,559 “age-adjusted deaths from drug poisoning” since 2015. Marion County has accounted for approximately 1,522 of those deaths.
The state considers classifies deaths from drug poisoning as those resulting from “unintentional or intentional overdose of a drug,” as well as being given the wrong drug, taking a drug in error, or taking a drug inadvertently…