IMPACT

All this work. With kids and grownups. In businesses and at community groups. Is it making a difference? 

We’ve made great strides in some substances and demographics, while others have been more challenging. But new patterns have emerged, including vaping a variety of substances, opioid use and fentanyl overdose. With our partners we’ve moved swiftly to expand the scope, and provide education, training, support and tools to address the emerging issues. 

Since we began work on various issues, take a look at some of the numbers: 

Youth alcohol use

  • Current use (past 30 days) of alcohol by high school youth in Duval County has decreased from 36.7% in 2010 to 19.5% in 2018 (FYSAS 2018)

  • Lifetime use by Duval middle schools students has decreased from 32.7% in 2010 to 20.1% in 2018 (FYSAS 2018)

  • Binge drinking, 5 or more drinks in one sitting, has decreased for Duval high schoolers during the same time period (2010 – 2018) 9.5% from 19.4% to 9.9% (FYSAS 2018)

Youth marijuana use

  • Current use of marijuana by high schoolers in Duval has dropped slightly – despite the introduction & passage of medical marijuana in the state. The rate of use in 2010 was 20.5% and by 2018 dropped to 18.4% (FYSAS 2018)

  • Duval middle school students lifetime use of marijuana dropped a bit more significantly from 12.2% in 2010 to 8.4% in 2018 (FYSAS 2018)

Misuse of prescription medications

  • Duval high school students reported a downward trend of current use regarding “using pain medications not prescribed to them by a doctor” from 4.0% in 2010 to 2.0% in 2018 (FYSAS 2018)

  • Middle school students in Duval also trended downward, with 2.3% reporting current use in 2010 and .5% in 2018 (FYSAS 2018)

Adult trends are difficult to measure on a local or regional basis due to the challenge of administering and collecting surveys. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the years 2015-2018 is included below which provides useful insight into trends. In addition, we constantly gather local data, and have included some here.

Adult Alcohol Use Disorder

  • Adults reporting struggling with alcohol use disorder trended down 10.5% between 2015-2018 (NSDUH 2018)

Adult Marijuana Use

  • All adult groups increased marijuana use during the 2015-2018 time period. The 18-25 year old cohort reported an increase of 1.5% in use, while the over 26 year old cohort increased use by 36% (NSDUH 2018)

Prescription & illicit Drug Misuse

  • According to the CDC, between 2015 and 2018, adults reported a decrease of 20.8% in prescription drug misuse, and a reduction of 2.4% in heroin use. The report makes no mention of fentanyl, which had seen exponential increases between 2012 and 2017 (CDC 2018)

Drug Overdoses in Duval County reported by JFRD

  • Between January 2015 and December 2019, drug overdose calls to service increased from 145 to 374, an increase of 158% (JFRD – 2019)

  • Between January 2020 and June 2020, the increase was substantial: 376 to 472 calls to service for overdose, representing an increase of 26% (JFRD – 2020)

    • Comparing those same numbers in 2020 year-over-year to January 2019 – June 2019, Duval has experienced 40% more calls to service (JFRD – 2020)

  • Treatment providers reported a significant uptick in opioid use disorder admissions between 2015 and 2019 (PSL data)

Over the last two years, with our partners, Drug Free Duval has:

  • Trained 5,698 Duval County parents in Tools for Engagement

  • Sent over 13,500 instructive text messages to parents

  • Achieved over 700,000 impressions through social media posts

  • Led 96 Know the Law trainings reaching over 5,500 youth and parents

  • Supported 606 compliance and 8 after hours checks

  • Scanned 70 retailers and 11 events

  • Engaged in letter writing campaigns resulting in changes in legislation at the local and state level

  • Hosted 84 Natural High and STOKE. events reaching 8700+ youth and 2200 parents

  • Distributed over 10,000 positive messaged items for reinforcement

  • Spoken at over 40 events to educate and promote prevention practices

  • Convened the North Florida Poly-Drug Task Force and supported each of the committee’s strategies

  • Assisted other counties in Florida in developing Task Forces 

  • Distributed over 600 life-saving Narcan kits and trained people to recognize overdose

  • Developed Safe Storage and Disposal training, providing over 5000 Dispose RX kits and 1000 Deterra bags to attendees

  • Worked with the PSL project to create a clear path to recovery for opioid overdose patients through the emergency room system

  • Trained hundreds of healthcare providers in SBIRT, signs of opioid misuse, rethinking pain communication with patients, alternate pain care options, Narcan administration

And we’re not stopping here…