Drug overdose deaths investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office have dropped by 33% — from 472 in 2022 to 317 in 2024, according to data released Tuesday.
The trend continued this year, with a total of 221 overdose deaths so far.
Sheriff T.K. Waters credits the decline to creation of the Narcotics Overdose Death Investigations Unit in 2021. The unit began in response to an increase in drug-related deaths caused largely by the arrival of synthetic opioids in street drug deals…