Last year, I wrote to share some encouraging news about a 20% drop in fentanyl deaths as reflected in the interim report issued by the Florida Medical Examiners for the first six months of 2024. The news was even more encouraging once data for the full year was released. For 2024, the overall reduction in fentanyl-caused deaths was 35%, making 2024 the third consecutive year of a decrease in fentanyl-caused deaths after they had reached their high of 5,791 deaths in 2021.
A trend has emerged. From 2021 to 2024, the year-over-year decline in fentanyl-caused deaths has grown each year: from 3% in 2022, to 12% in 2023, to 35% in 2024.
This trend has continued for the first six months of 2025. Statistics released by the Florida Medical Examiners earlier this year showed the largest year-over-year decrease in fentanyl-caused deaths since the epidemic began. For the first six months of 2025, fentanyl deaths dropped 46% when compared with the same time period for 2024, from 2,040 to 1,110.
As demonstrated by this data, 2021 was the peak of fentanyl-caused deaths in Florida. Since then, the number of those deaths has decreased every year. Compared with the first six months of 2021, there were 62% fewer fentanyl-caused deaths in 2025.
These decreases have occurred throughout Tampa and its surrounding counties. As reflected in the interim reports for 2021 and 2025, the number of fentanyl-caused deaths dropped at rates that equaled or exceeded the state average in each of the three medical examiner districts that cover DeSoto, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties. The district covering DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties experienced a reduction of 79%, with significant decreases of 66% in the district covering Pasco and Pinellas counties, and 61% in Hillsborough County.
This encouraging news is not limited to fentanyl. As the number of fentanyl-caused deaths increased more than 300% from 2016 to 2021, the number of deaths caused by cocaine and methamphetamine also rose. Cocaine deaths were up more than 50% during that time period, and methamphetamine deaths were up more than 540%.
Those trends also have been reversing. Deaths caused by those drugs declined in the first six months of 2025, both in Florida and in Tampa and its surrounding counties, when compared to the same time period in 2024. Overall, cocaine-caused deaths dropped by 23%, with decreases of 60% for the medical examiner district covering DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties, 29% for the district covering Pasco and Pinellas counties, and 19% for Hillsborough County. Methamphetamine-caused deaths experienced similar decreases, with an overall drop of 31% and decreases of 48% for DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties, 51% for Pasco and Pinellas counties, and 21% for Hillsborough County.
These decreases are due to the hard work and commitment of many community members. Law enforcement, treatment providers, community leaders, nonprofit organizations, businesses, public servants, prosecutors, and many others have all played important roles in this effort. They are to be commended for their dedicated efforts focused on reducing the number of drug deaths in our community and for their continuing commitment to this critical issue. Their work is truly saving lives.
Roger Handberg is a shareholder at GrayRobinson and is the former United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.
