The 'Oxy Express': Florida's Drug Abuse Epidemic
Tricky Rick: Florida Governor Rick Scott
Florida is the epicenter of a prescription drug abuse epidemic. Each day in communities from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale, thousands of doses of powerful narcotics like oxycodone are dispensed in pain clinics — storefront operations also called "pill mills."
When he started at the Broward County Sheriff's department 30 years ago, Al Lamberti says, the department was raiding crack houses and busting junkies."Nowadays, the drug dealers are working out of strip malls," he says.
Lamberti heads the sheriff's office in a county that includes Fort Lauderdale. It's a city that has become a destination not just for spring breakers but also for addicts and drug traffickers. "We have more pain clinics than we have McDonald's restaurants," he says. "They're taking their toll."
Lamberti recently joined a dozen federal, state and local law enforcement officials at a news conference held to announce a major crackdown on Florida's pill mills. It was a series of busts, from Palm Beach to Miami, that included more than 20 arrests and the seizure of more than $22 million in cash, exotic cars and real estate.But what about this guy? Gov. Rick Scott's policies could benefit his family's $62M investment: //www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/02/2147243/gov-rick-scotts-policies-could.html
Young athletes see and read news stories about famous athletes, artists and celebrities, who admit to having used performance-enhancing drugs. So it's no surprise that as many as 1 in 20 teenagers reports using steroids to increase muscle mass.