Florida Senate - 2024 SB 66
By Senator Brodeur
10-00243-24 202466__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to Naloxone Awareness Day; providing a
3 short title; creating s. 683.3342, F.S.; designating
4 June 6 of each year as “Naloxone Awareness Day”;
5 authorizing the Governor to issue an annual
6 proclamation; encouraging the Department of Health to
7 hold events to raise awareness of the dangers of
8 opioid overdose and the availability and safe use of
9 naloxone as an effective way to rapidly reverse the
10 effects of opioid overdose; providing an effective
11 date.
12
13 WHEREAS, the opioid epidemic continues to ravage American
14 families across the United States, and
15 WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
16 reported more than 100,000 overdose deaths in the United States
17 during the 12-month period that ended in February 2023, and
18 WHEREAS, most of these deaths were caused by illicit
19 synthetic drugs like clandestinely manufactured fentanyl, often
20 in combination with other drugs, and
21 WHEREAS, in 2021, nearly 71,000 drug overdose deaths
22 involving synthetic opioids occurred in the United States, which
23 was more deaths that year than from any other type of opioid,
24 and
25 WHEREAS, synthetic-opioid-involved death rates increased by
26 more than 22 percent from 2020 to 2021 and synthetic opioids
27 accounted for nearly 88 percent of all opioid-involved deaths in
28 2021, and
29 WHEREAS, by comparison, from 1999 to 2021, nearly 280,000
30 people died in the United States from overdoses involving
31 prescription opioids, and
32 WHEREAS, the number of drug overdose deaths involving
33 prescription opioids in 2021 was nearly five times the number in
34 1999, and
35 WHEREAS, in 2021, an average of 45 people died each day
36 from a prescription opioid overdose, for a total of nearly
37 17,000 deaths, and
38 WHEREAS, in 2021, nearly 21 percent of all opioid overdose
39 deaths involved prescription opioids, and
40 WHEREAS, 60 percent of all opioid overdose deaths occur in
41 the home, and
42 WHEREAS, in 67 percent of opioid overdose deaths, another
43 person was present at the time and witnessed the death, and
44 WHEREAS, naloxone is a safe, powerful medication that can
45 reverse opioid-related overdoses and prevent overdose deaths,
46 and
47 WHEREAS, in 2023, in a historic action, the United States
48 Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter
49 naloxone nasal spray, and
50 WHEREAS, most Americans remain unaware of the safety,
51 availability, and efficacy of naloxone as a life-saving
52 treatment for opioid overdose, and
53 WHEREAS, the national advocacy efforts of David Siegel and
54 Jackie Siegel are recognized as they advocate for widespread
55 availability of naloxone through the Victoria’s Voice
56 Foundation, named in honor of their daughter, who died from an
57 accidental overdose, NOW, THEREFORE,
58
59 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
60
61 Section 1. This act may be cited as “Victoria’s Law.”
62 Section 2. Section 683.3342, Florida Statutes, is created
63 to read:
64 683.3342 Naloxone Awareness Day.-
65 (1) June 6 of each year is designated as “Naloxone
66 Awareness Day.”
67 (2) The Governor may issue an annual proclamation
68 designating June 6 as “Naloxone Awareness Day.”
69 (3) The Department of Health is encouraged to hold events
70 to raise awareness of the dangers of opioid overdose and the
71 availability and safe use of naloxone as an effective way to
72 rapidly reverse the effects of opioid overdose.
73 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.