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Faith Matters: The Opioid Epidemic

Naloxone needles
Jeff Anderson via Flickr
First responders are administering Naloxone, an opioid antidote, increasingly commonly in Jacksonville.

It’s the worst drug epidemic in modern American history. In 2017 alone, 3,245 Floridians died from overdoses of heroin, fentanyl or other opioids. On this episode of Faith Matters, we examine the role that communities of faith play in helping addicts get and stay clean.

Faith Matters is WJCT’s quarterly program taking a closer look at today’s issues through the lens of faith.

Faith Matters is hosted by Kyle Reese, senior pastor of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church and deputy director of the University of North Florida’s OneJax Institute,and Nancy Broner, executive director of OneJax.

Guests on today’s show were:

  • Christian Thrasher, senior director of substance use disorders and recovery, The Clinton Foundation
  • Bill Gulliford, Jacksonville City Council member and chair, Special Committee on the Opioid Epidemic
  • Canon Allison DeFoor, Episcopal Diocese of Florida
  • Shirley Ann Roberts, retired correctional drug offender probation and parole officer

Photovia Flickr used under Creative Commons license