Opioid overdoses are on the rise in Martin County. In fact, the sheriff says in a span of just two weeks his deputies responded to nearly 35 overdoses.
Monday the sheriff’s office announced results from ‘Operation Relentless Pursuit,’ which aims to curb the problem.
Since last year the sheriff’s office has arrested 49 people tied to selling, trafficking or possessing opiods.
Deputies were primarily targeting people using and selling Opana. It gives users a high similar to the abuse of oxycodone or morphine.
Sheriff William Snyder believes the use of Opana is on the rise because of a misconception that it’s less dangerous than other opiods.
Curt Broome attended the news conference. He lost his son to an overdose. “We live in Martin County and there’s a lot of wealthy people here, and I think he just got in with the wrong crowd, people with too much money on their hands. Once it grabs a hold of you, it gets you.”
The sheriff’s office believes most of the Opana in the county is coming from Miami-Dade.