By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-982092.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Last year more than 2700 people died because of prescription drug overdoses. That's according to the latest report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Lynn Hatter reports changes in the law surrounding who can dispense those drugs and a statewide crackdown on so-called "pill mills" has law enforcement hoping to see a drop in the number of overdose deaths.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman Keith Kameg says one of the reasons prescription drug deaths are so high is that people falsely equate them with being safe. Prescription drugs were also found more often than illegal ones in autopsies conducted by medical examiners across the state.
Sound- "Oxycodone was responsible for killing 1,516 Floridians, Benzodiazepines which are like Xanax and things like that: 1300. Methadone 694 , Ethyl Alcohol 572, Cocaine 561."
Earlier in the year the state began a crackdown on so-called pill mills, which give out large quantities of medications like oxycodone since March the state has made 937 arrests, including 17 doctors.