Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge is wrapping up his tenure as president of the National Association of Counties with a plea for more federal help to fight the opioid crisis.
On the final day of the organization’s annual convention in Ohio, Desloge says local governments are being hit hard, especially in South Florida, where one county logged 10 fatal overdoses in a single day last month.
“We dispatch either an ambulance, which is ours, or a sheriff’s deputy, which is ours, they show up, they administer whatever care they can. They may take you to a county jail, or they may take you to a rehab, which we have some participation in, or they may take you to the county morgue.”
Desloge says the issue will surface next week when he and other Florida officials meet with Trump Administration officials in Washington, D.C. Desloge says counties have already become the biggest single provider of mental health services through their jails.
