WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A Palm Beach County commissioner is asking Gov. Rick Scott to declare a public health emergency that would help Florida jurisdictions deal with problems related to opioid-abuse.
Melissa McKinlay wrote a letter to the governor last week asking for the help since she said local governments can't tackle the problems alone.
The Palm Beach Post reports that the commissioner hadn't heard back from the governor's office yet.
The newspaper has reported that heroin-related hospital costs in Florida have reached about $4.1 million a day.
McKinlay says in the letter that other states like Virginia and Massachusetts have declared health emergencies in the wake of spikes in heroin deaths.
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Information from: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, http://www.pbpost.com
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