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Prescription drug deaths have steadily decreased in Florida the past three years. As Matt Galka tells us, the crackdown on pill mills has helped, but new data shows synthetic drugs as the next challenge.

Florid used to dispense more oxycodone pills than any other state in the country. A new medical examiners report says a pill mill crackdown has helped lead to a decrease in prescription drug deaths according to a new medical examiners report from the first half of 2013.  975 people died in the first half of 2013 – 75 fewer than the year before. FDLE also started tracking a new drug type for the first time.

The report says that 30 people died from synthetic drugs and more than 70 others had synthetics in their system.

Synthetic narcotics are composed of chemicals capable of producing a dangerous high.  Law enforcement says that after the attorney general bans one product, chemists produce a slightly different version.

“They change a few molecules in that formula, and then the Attorney General is back to doing the same thing, to me that is the challenge,” said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey.

The legislature also passed a bill that would place store owners selling banned substances in the same class as a drug trafficker.

“it’s no different than a street level drug dealer and they’re going to get locked up if they’re selling this stuff,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.

It’s difficult to police the synthetic drug companies. Most are manufactured overseas. The FDLE says that monitoring synthetic drug deaths will help the state monitor the impact of the narcotics, and ultimately help shape recommendations for lawmakers.