RX Drug Abuse in Florida

So this should be the last edit to my prescription drug abuse video for USF.

I feel like Robert Rodriguez working without a crew and the barest of video necessities, but I'm really happy with the end result. The best part may have been playing with the soundtrack. I knew I hung around musicians for a good reason.

Yes, WE CAN

WE CAN is the name of the women-centered drug court program in Pinellas County, FL. I did a short informational documentary on WE CAN this past spring as a research assistant at USF.

It was enlightening to work with the women of the court system as well as the clients, many of whom had never been in trouble in their lives until they got hooked on pain meds.

Prescription Drug Abuse

A friend and fellow WMNF volunteer, Dr. Kathy Moore, is a Research Assistant Professor at USF. Her focus for the last few years has been mental health and substance abuse, and she's been leading a couple different studies on Hillsborough and Pinellas County Drug Courts. I've been working with her as a research assistant for the last eight months. On Monday Kathy and I will lead a panel discussion on Pinellas Countys' program for female offenders.

Panelists will include Pinellas County Drug Court Judge Dee Anna Farnell, WestCare therapist Heidi Jacobson, and a drug court client.

I feel fortunate having never been addicted to anything in my life (well, there were cigarettes in college); I never thought I'd be able to understand a person with such a problem. However, through various methods of data collection, numerous client interviews - and watching them succeed or fail (or both), I have a much better grasp on the struggle of the individual as well as an understanding of how the system and society comes into play.

While Kathy and her team of researchers (me included) are still evaluating the results of years of study to measure the effectiveness of drug courts, to me it's obvious that drug court is a pro-active alternative towards solving a deep-rooted problem, as opposed to locking someone up for decades and hoping a lesson was learned.

In the same vein (was that tasteless?), I'm also producing a story for Monday's evening newscast on the rampant increase in prescription drug abuse and overdoses in Florida. According to the Chief Forensic Toxicologist at Hillsborough County’s Medical Examiners office, about one person a day dies of an overdose in this county alone.