The Tampa area witnessed a new sober living home open up at the beginning of May. New Port Richey was the latest Florida location to join the Real Recovery family of sober living homes. This new house is Real Recovery’s most significant yet, with 21 units and 80 beds available to serve the area. Real Recovery is the largest sober living community serving Florida, with the following six other locations throughout the state:
- North Tampa
- Tampa
- St. Petersburg
- Clearwater
- Bradenton
- Brandon
The latest property in New Port Richey is located on the waterfront. It is also conveniently located within walking distance of downtown for easy access to meetings, shopping, and job opportunities. The facilities are neat, clean, and affordable to help reflect the quality of care. The sober living program provides men with the structure they need and the accountability required for healing in an environment that offers safety and stability during their recovery process. Real Recovery programs focus on creating a sense of community amongst men who are recovering from drug or alcohol abuse. The goal is to prepare these men to transition back into real life as self-directed individuals.
Pasco County’s Connection to the Opioid Crisis
The United States has faced an opioid epidemic since 1999 that has seen the number of deaths from opioid overdose quadruple in 20 years. What began as overdoses due to addiction to prescription opioids led to a significant rise in the use of heroin and then synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Despite substantial efforts to educate and prevent overdose and deaths at national, state, and local levels, the epidemic continues to increase at alarming rates. It is estimated that there were over 100,000 deaths in the United States due to opioid overdose between April 2020 and April 2021, the highest number of overdose deaths ever reported in a single year.
New Port Richey is located near Tampa in Pasco County, Florida, which has become a breeding ground for selling and using illicit opioid drugs, particularly over the past ten years. This development is primarily due to the increased popularity of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Fentanyl’s popularity grew rapidly due to the considerably lower cost and increased drug effectiveness compared to heroin. Fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic opioid drug, which has led to an epidemic of addiction in the Pasco County area. Fentanyl also creates a higher risk for overdose and death.
Soaring Opioid Overdose Rates in Pasco County
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2019, Florida had the second-highest number of deaths due to drug overdose in the nation, with 5,268. California had more deaths but has about double the population of Florida. Overdose fatalities in Florida are a severe problem, and Pasco County has a particular problem with overdoses and deaths due to opioid use. In fact, between 2000 and 2018, Pasco County showed an overall higher opioid death rate per capita than the Florida state or the national average.
The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the number of opioid overdoses and deaths in Pasco County. In 2020 alone, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office reported a total of 1,491 overdoses, with 268 of those resulting in fatalities. This statistic represented a 71% increase in overdose deaths in 2019. Most jurisdictions reported increases specifically in synthetic opioid-related overdose deaths in Florida in 2020. Over half of those jurisdictions saw more than a 50% increase in deaths due to fentanyl and other synthetic opioid overdoses.
The Deadly New Synthetic Opioid Isotonitazene (ISO)
The national opioid crisis has brought awareness of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine— both natural opioids. In April 2019, a newer synthetic opioid was being sold and used illicitly called Isotonitazene, or ISO. With absolutely no medical or pharmaceutical use, the drug was being used only for recreational purposes, and thus there were immediate cases of overdose deaths related to ISO.
This year, Florida’s Attorney General issued a press release warning about ISO, noting that the drug is at least 20 times stronger than fentanyl. Using ISO even once can result in an overdose death, and it is so strong that it can be absorbed through the skin or accidentally inhaled.
ISO has typically been found in powder form but can also exist in pill form. As with other drugs, it can be mixed with other synthetic opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, or other powders or pills without being detected, which makes it that much more dangerous. ISO may be ingested without knowledge or consent, and overdose can occur without anyone’s understanding. Worse still, Narcan, a naloxone nasal spray typically used to save lives in heroin or fentanyl overdose, may not even be effective in the case of ISO overdoses.
What Does ISO Have to Do With Pasco County?
Pasco County is one of the first places in Florida where ISO was discovered and where overdose deaths occurred. Already struggling with high fentanyl and other opioid addiction and overdose rates, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office has been issuing warnings about ISO through news outlets and social media to help people understand the increased dangers. Opioid addiction thrives around the reality that the body needs more of a drug more frequently to experience the same reaction. Still, if ISO is being sold to people to meet that need, they are not being informed of the much higher risk factors.
The concerns began with a sudden spike in overdose deaths, which at first were assumed to be due to fentanyl. Lab tests found that ISO was responsible for these deaths. There is great concern that the drug continues to present in their overdose investigations. The lowered response or lack of response to Narcan makes the spike in cases even more concerning for first responders. The Sheriff’s Office warning indicates that even trace amounts of ISO can lead to overdose or severe symptoms within minutes of exposure.
Combating the Opioid Crisis in Pasco County
The opioid crisis has caused many in the community to look for ways to help solve the problems and save lives. In 2019, Pasco County received a $638,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help battle the opioid crisis. They have been trying to raise awareness in schools through advertising and other educational programs. The problem only increased with COVID-19 and the pressures created on mental health.
Various community organizations are working together to try to find solutions. According to one report, in the first three weeks of April of 2021 alone, there had been 84 overdoses and 16 deaths in Pasco County. One of the ways they try to help save lives is by using the Good Samaritan Law, which protects the person reporting an overdose from criminal prosecution, even if drugs are present when law enforcement arrives. There are those in the community who recognize that criminalizing addiction is not effective, and that people need compassionate treatment.
The Need for More Sober Living Homes
There is much disparity amongst treatment programs for drug and alcohol abuse. Programs range from outpatient treatment to 30-day residential programs to long-term sober living programs. Given the particularly addictive nature of opioids, the ideal form of treatment would provide longer-term support with the ability to transition back into the real world as individuals heal from their addiction.
More sober living homes are needed to address the opioid crisis. Sober living creates a safe living environment for those healing from addiction while providing the accountability of random drug testing, required meetings, program commitments, and a structured lifestyle. At the same time, there is stability and support as people transition from a life of addiction and learn to be responsible for themselves, essential life skills, and gain education and employment to reenter the workforce and live self-directed lives. Sober living homes are a very successful recovery model and provide long-term support for those recovering from opioid addiction.
Why Sober Living Is More Affordable Than Jail
When men are faced with choosing a sober living program or jail due to drug charges, many of them will select Real Recovery’s sober living program. This choice provides significant savings to the county, as the cost of incarceration per inmate is $100 per day. Yet the Real Recovery program cost is only $800 for the entire month. That is a savings of approximately $2,200 per person per month when they choose sober living rather than jail.
The savings do not stop there, however. As a part of the Real Recovery program, participants rehabilitate and are encouraged to seek both educational and work opportunities as they are ready, making them contributing members of the community. They become an asset to the community rather than a burden, saving countless more money and resources and providing new resources and support as valuable community members.
Real Recovery Sober Living Home an Answer for Pasco County
The New Port Richey sober living home answers the need for long-term support for those recovering from opioid addiction in Pasco County. As the community works together to solve the opioid crisis, Real Recovery offers another solution to this life and death situation. Providing housing and rehabilitation support for 80 men at a time will help keep them out of jail and off of the streets and, more importantly, help save lives.
The Real Recovery program aims to do more than just save lives or take people off of the streets, though. Those who participate in the sober living program in New Port Richey will get support in healing from their addiction and be able to achieve their sober goals. They will gain valuable life skills, get support in finding education and employment, and be shown the way to become successful in living self-directed lives. The sober living recovery program will help save lives and play an integral role in resolving the opioid crisis. It will also contribute to the community of New Port Richey and Pasco County by enriching the lives of those who participate.
The new sober living home in New Port Richey was created to address the needs of Pasco County and the efforts to focus on the alarming fentanyl and opioid crisis within the community. With the additional dangers created by the presence of ISO in the area, the need for compassionate, effective ways to address addiction in the region has never been more critical. Real Recovery Sober Living in Florida recognizes that our men’s sober living communities can offer safe, clean, affordable alternatives to incarceration that help save lives, save money, and benefit both people and the community. We offer experience, strength, and hope to those in recovery who want to heal and transition back into the real world. Our goal is to create a strong community of support for those with substance use disorders. Call us today at (727) 290-9156.
