Drug overdose deaths in Florida are falling for the first time in a decade. Florida recorded 4,958 drug overdose deaths in 2024 — a rate of 21.2 per 100,000 residents — according to CDC mortality data, and the state's medical examiners documented a 14% one-year decline in drug-related deaths. This page compiles the government data that describes the Tampa Bay region's overdose problem and explains why different official sources report different numbers.
Florida recorded 4,958 drug overdose deaths in 2024, according to CDC mortality data — 21.2 deaths per 100,000 residents. The state's age-adjusted overdose death rate had already fallen from 35.2 per 100,000 in 2022 to 31.7 in 2023, according to CDC injury statistics, and the 2024 data extends that decline. Florida's improvement tracks the national trend: the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reported roughly 80,000 U.S. overdose deaths in 2024, down from about 110,000 in 2023 — the largest one-year decline the agency has recorded.
The Florida Medical Examiners Commission's 2024 "Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons" report, published by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, documented declines in every major drug category. The following are the four year-over-year changes reported by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for 2024:
Fentanyl remained the single deadliest drug identified in Florida deaths in 2024 despite the decline. The same report attributes most fentanyl deaths to fentanyl combined with other substances rather than fentanyl alone — a pattern that also holds in Tampa Bay's medical examiner districts.
Local government data adds detail the statewide reports lack. The Pinellas County Opioid Task Force's 2023–2027 Strategic Plan, published by the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County, reported 7,343 EMS transports for suspected overdoses in Pinellas County in fiscal year 2022–23. The same plan documented 374 fentanyl-involved fatalities in Medical Examiner District 6, which serves Pinellas and Pasco counties: 34 deaths involved fentanyl alone, and 340 involved fentanyl combined with other drugs — meaning 91% of the district's fentanyl deaths involved more than one substance. In Hillsborough County, the Tampa Police Department investigated 82 opioid-related deaths in the first six months of 2023, against 159 for the full prior year.
Official overdose numbers differ because Florida's two reporting systems count different things. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's medical examiner reports count deceased persons in whom drugs were identified at autopsy, split into "caused" and "present" determinations, and organize results by medical examiner district — District 13 covers Hillsborough County, and District 6 covers Pinellas and Pasco. The Florida Department of Health's FLHealthCHARTS system counts deaths certified as drug poisonings on death certificates and organizes results by county of residence. A death can appear in one system and not the other, so comparing a medical examiner figure against a death-certificate figure overstates or understates the change. Cite one system at a time.
Public health agencies attribute the 2024 decline to wider naloxone distribution, expanded medication-assisted treatment, and shifts in the illicit drug supply. Florida distributes naloxone through the Department of Children and Families' overdose prevention programs, and Medicaid covers medication-assisted treatment with methadone and buprenorphine statewide — see which Tampa-area facilities accept Medicaid. Treatment access matters to the trend: the earlier a person with a substance use disorder reaches medical detox or outpatient care, the lower the overdose risk during the highest-risk relapse windows.
Down. Florida's medical examiners recorded a 14% statewide decline in drug-related deaths in 2024, with fentanyl deaths down 35%, and the decline extends across Tampa Bay's medical examiner districts.
Fentanyl. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2024 medical examiner report identified fentanyl as the leading drug in deaths, most often combined with other substances rather than alone.
Two systems: the FDLE Medical Examiners Commission reports (drugs identified at autopsy, by district) and FLHealthCHARTS death-certificate data (drug poisoning deaths, by county), both published by Florida state agencies.
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Data on this page was compiled from CDC mortality statistics, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2024 Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons report, and Florida Department of Health publications, and reviewed on August 20, 2026 under our editorial standards. Numbers are updated as agencies release new reports. Spotted an error? Report it.