Pills spill out of a bottle in an arrangement photo of prescription Oxycodone. | Mark Lennihan, AP file
Published on October 24, 2025 at 3:25 pm
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Drug-related deaths in Northeast Florida and statewide decreased dramatically between 2023 and 2024, according to a new report.
Deaths in Florida fell 14% in 2024, with opioid-caused deaths dropping 32% and fentanyl-caused deaths 35%, according to the annual Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons Report from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission.
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The report also shows fewer deaths in Northeast Florida from fentanyl, cocaine and oxycodone.
“These results send a clear message: in Florida, we are steadfast in our commitment to protect our communities and will not allow harmful drugs to take hold,” Mark Glass, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said in a news release about the report.
The decrease in overdose deaths can be attributed to many factors, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office:
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- Better public education and services for drug users.
- The seizure of large quantities of fentanyl and other opioids, making them less available to users. (The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has seized over 38 kilograms of fentanyl in 2025 — more than 19 million lethal doses, said spokesperson Ashley Harding.)
- A 2-year-old state law that allows murder charges against drug sellers when the drug was a “substantial factor” in a person’s death. (The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office charged 21 people with murder or manslaughter in 2023, eight in 2024 and 16 so far this year, Harding said.)
- Increased availability of Naloxone, also called Narcan, a medicine that rapidly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
Patterns in drug-related deaths
The state Bureau of Vital Statistics reported 230,911 deaths in Florida during 2024. Medical examiners investigated 31,604 of those deaths, and 12,687 of the autopsies showed drugs present at the time of death — usually more than one drug.
Opioid-related deaths statewide declined by 1,857 in 2024, to 5,378. The opioids were identified as either the cause of death or merely present in the decedent, the medical examiners report says.
The report found that the drug found most often — ethanol, or alcohol — was involved in 5,185 deaths in 2024, dropping from 5,890 in 2023.
A number of drugs were listed as causing death in more than 50% of the autopsy cases in 2024 — synthetic cannabinoids (92%), halogenated inhalants (91%), fentanyl (88%) and cocaine.
In local medical examiner districts:
DISTRICT 4 (Clay, Duval and Nassau counties) — 304 deaths with fentanyl in their systems, down from 514 in 2023; 262 deaths with cocaine in their systems, down from 317 in 2023
DISTRICT 23 (St. Johns, Putnam and Flagler counties) — 54 deaths with fentanyl in their systems, down from 80 in 2023; 24 people with cocaine in their systems, down from 39 the year before.
Like the Sheriff’s Office, state officials credited the drop in drug-related deaths to expanded access to medication such as naloxone, enhanced drug interdiction by law enforcement and initiatives like the SAFE program.
SAFE — short for State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication — provides grants to local law enforcement for large-scale drug operations.
