KISSIMMEE, Fla. — In March, President Joe Biden signed the End Fentanyl Act, legislation championed by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

According to a White House press release, the new law "requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to review and update manuals and policies related to inspections at ports of entry to ensure the effective detection of illegal smuggling of drugs and humans along the border."

What You Need To Know

  • Friday, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott visited Kissimmee, attending a roundtable focused on the fentanyl crisis

  • Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma was there, who has been fighting the opioid epidemic for years

  • The DEA reports in 2023 they seized more than 79 million fentanyl pills, which is nearly triple the amount seized in 2021

Friday, Scott visited Kissimmee, attending a roundtable focused on the fentanyl crisis.

“What can we do to stop this fentanyl crisis?” Scott asked, following his roundtable discussion. “I don’t want another 76,000 Americans to die of a drug overdose from fentanyl next year. It’s not going to change until at the federal level, state level, the local level, all of these not-for-profits all work together.”

Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma was one of many who sat with Scott in helping lead the discussion.

According to Lemma, 70% of pills on the streets are laced with fentanyl, and that seven out of 10 people who take a pill laced with fentanyl are either hospitalized for poison or die.

Lemma has been fighting the opioid epidemic for several years, and says fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroine.

Ahead of the discussion, he advocated for greater access to Naloxone, NARCAN and getting people access to medical-based therapy.

“I think it’s all hands on deck,” Lemma said.

Lemma also says the number one cause of death for young people in the country is because of a fentanyl overdose.

Project Opioid, which educates communities on how to reduce opioid deaths and overdoses, took a moment to show the room just how little of an amount of fentanyl can impact so many.

Organization founder Andrae Baily held up a tiny ziplock bag with rock salt in it, saying “This small amount I have here, this would be enough to kill an entire elementary school here in Osceola County and one high school. All in one small bag.”

The DEA reports in 2023 they seized more than 79 million fentanyl pills, which is nearly triple the amount seized in 2021.

The consensus in the room where this discussion took place is that these drugs are originating in China and then being smuggled in to the U.S. across the Mexican border.