Bilirakis To Discuss Opioid Addiction In Pasco County With Key Community Leaders

Wesley Chapel, FL:   In 2021, more than 30 Tampa Bay residents died from an opioid overdose.   That is double the number who died in the same region in 2019.  “Addiction has ravaged our community for many years.  This epidemic and its consequences have touched every community, every demographic, and every single one of us in some way,” said U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis.  “Tragically, despite historic increases in federal funding in recent years to tackle this issue, the problem is only getting worse.  Fortunately, we are seeing a strong, bipartisan coalition of leaders working to find solutions, but we’ve got to do better!”

Bilirakis, who serves on the Energy & Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives, has a long history of working to fix the nation’s broken behavioral health system.  He has successfully worked to maximize efficiency in federal behavioral health programs, reauthorize successful initiatives that support behavioral health needs, and has hosted regional forums with law enforcement, substance use treatment providers, emergency room physicians, and public health officials to generate more effective solutions.  He recently secured $2 million in federal funding for increased access to substance use and mental health treatment in Pasco and Pinellas counties.  Additionally, he sponsored an $800,000 project in Pasco to create a one-stop shop for accessing addiction treatment which just passed the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Congressman Bilirakis is set to speak to a group of business and community leaders about opioid use and the action being taken in Washington to combat addiction at an upcoming forum hosted by Live Tampa Bay on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. at Advent Health Center Ice, 3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Wesley Chapel, FL 33544.  This event is free to the community, but space is limited to the first 200 people.  You can register today, by clicking this sentence.

“Live Tampa Bay is grateful for Congressman Bilirakis’s continued leadership in DC. We look forward to finding out how this epidemic is being addressed in our nation’s Capitol and how our business leaders can join the fight to expand access to lifesaving interventions, get fentanyl off our streets, and promote recovery,” says Jennifer Webb, Executive Director of Live Tampa Bay.  Webb, a former State Representative, knows addiction and overdose all too well, losing her sister, Allison Grace, to the opioid epidemic when she was only 19 years old.  “This epidemic has impacted nearly all families across the Tampa Bay region.  For me this is a personal and professional mission.  Live Tampa Bay is dedicated to doing everything we can to end this epidemic once and for all,” continued Webb.   For more information on Live Tampa Bay, please visit: www.livetampabay.org.