LAWMAKERS TAKE AIM AT OPIOID CRISIS

By NATHALIE SCZUBLEWSKI
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Published on August 8, 2017

©2017 The News Service of Florida. All rights reserved. Posting or forwarding this material without permission is prohibited. You can view the Terms of Useon our website.

LAKE WORTH, Aug. 8, 2017……… Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala held a roundtable discussion Tuesday in Palm Beach County with lawmakers, local leaders and public-safety officials to address Florida’s opioid crisis.

Palm Beach County is one of the epicenters of the epidemic. From January through May of this year, the county had 311 opioid overdoses, compared to 258 over the same period in 2016, according to numbers from Latvala’s office. The county totaled 592 opioid-related deaths in 2016.

SLOSBERG SEEKS TOUGHER LAW ON TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

By NATHALIE SCZUBLEWSKI
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Published on July 26, 2017

©2017 The News Service of Florida. All rights reserved. Posting or forwarding this material without permission is prohibited. You can view the Terms of Useon our website.

BOCA RATON, July 26, 2017……… State Rep. Emily Slosberg appeared Tuesday night at a Boca Raton City Council meeting as she tries to build local-government support for the Legislature to make texting while driving a primary offense.

Florida is one of four states where texting while driving is a secondary offense, meaning that law enforcement cannot pull over motorists for texting at the wheel. Other states are Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota. Motorists in Florida can only be cited for texting while driving if they are stopped for other reasons such as speeding or failing to wear seat belts.