Three years since Browder’s death, his brother, Akeem Browder, wants Governor Andrew Cuomo to do more for criminal justice reform. Cuomo has promised to prioritize justice reform if reelected in next week’s midterm elections, but Browder feels that so far, the governor has not delivered on his promises.

“The governor and the Democrats in Albany, as well as the Republicans, need to get off their high horse and really just understand this is a human rights violation” said Browder, who founded the The Kalief Browder Foundation to advocate for criminal justice reform. “Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, whatever field you’re on, it does not matter. There are human bodies that are behind these bars and do not need to end up like another Kalief.”

Akeem Browder (left) discusses the need for criminal justice reform with Dr Michael Jacobson, Chairman of the Board of the NYC Criminal Justice Agency. Photo by Kathleen Taylor

According to the 2018 report of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, there are over 8,000 people held in New York City jails without trial, none of whom have been found guilty. Many of these people are detained because they are unable to pay bail. Reform advocates argue that the current bail system unfairly discriminates against the poor, many of whom are people are color.

Earlier this year Cuomo signed into effect the Raise the Age law, which allows for 16 and 17 year old offenders to be prosecuted and detained in separate facilities, instead of with adults. However, many have criticized the Cuomo for taking so long to enact this law and for the implementation being too slow.

According to The World Prison Brief, published by the University of London’s Institute for Criminal Policy Research, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world with about 2.2 million people in prison at any given time. Of those incarcerated, 451,000 are awaiting trial.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo by Pat Arnow courtesy of Wikipedia

While President Trump has recently engaged in conversations regarding justice reform with high profile celebrities, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, so far there have been no legislative reforms. The First Step Act, a justice reform bill which was approved by the House of Representatives earlier this year, has not yet reached the Senate.

The upcoming midterm elections will not only determine the composition of the US Senate which may vote on this bill , but also the state senates that will be considering legislative reforms at the state level. With the US Bureau of Statistics reporting that 87 percent of US prison inmates are held in state facilities, the midterm elections offer the potential for substantial change to the country’s criminal justice system.

In New York, Democrats have introduced various justice reform bills calling for bail reform, the introduction of speedy trial requirements, and discovery reform which would allow accused persons to be informed of all evidence against them prior to their case. So far none of these have passed through the Republican controlled Senate. Some blame Cuomo’s failure to deliver on justice reform on the composition of the Senate.

“As we approach this election, the makeup of the Senate may or may not change,” said Ashley Southall, criminal justice reporter for the New York Times. “We might have the same dynamic where we have Democrats passing reforms in the Assembly and then Republicans blocking them in the Senate.”

Some justice reform advocates are hopeful that if Democrats take control of the state Senate in the upcoming elections, then these bills will be passed.

“Money bail needs to go,” said Insha Rahman, Program Director of the Vera Institute.“But in the system that we have, that requires a legislative fix up in Albany. And as we know things in Albany are fraught. Perhaps maybe less fraught after November 6. We’ll see”.

Others wonder whether the Republican Senate is really what has prevented reform so far.

“Do they [New York’s current leaders] want to fix the system?” asked Aiyuba Thomas, an NYU student from Queens who was formerly incarcerated. “Or are they actually just appeasing people? Giving them little tidbits.”

Despite the potential that the upcoming elections offer for justice reform, Thomas is concerned that criminal justice reform is not occupying enough space in the upcoming election.

“When you hear a lot of debates, this is a topic that’s skimmed over,” said Thomas. “If it is spoken about, it’s very brief. How much is this the politicians’ concern?”

But Thomas appreciates that justice reform will take time.

“The world is not gonna change tomorrow,” said Thomas. “You could get 10 new guys, 10 new women in there that are all about prison reform, but it’s still a process. We’re making headway if we are able to rally voters who care about these issues to vote for the right people. That’s a big one, the voting process.”

Thomas believes that Cuomo’s recent executive order granting parolees the right to vote offers hope for criminal justice reform.

“Now that they’ve given us these rights to vote, a person who’s been in the system, who knows what’s going on, can better choose or better give their vote to a person who they feel is the right candidate,” he said. “Voting is very essential.”

Davon Woodley is an activist for the #CloseRikers campaign which lobbies for comprehensive criminal justice reform. Photo by Kathleen Taylor.

Davon Woodley, a formerly incarcerated justice reform activist from Harlem, said that the right to vote is a key driver of change.

“People who are home now have the right to vote,” said Woodley.  “And I think that that is a great way to create change in itself. What is going to change thisis who we as people put in place to represent us best.”

Woodley is an activist for the #CLOSErikers Campaign which lobbies not only for the closing of the jail on Rikers Island in New York City, but also for various other criminal justice reforms.

In addition to bail reform, Woodley said that New York needs to introduce minimum wages for work done by incarcerated individuals, offer mental health counselling to both incarcerated individuals and correctional officers, and reform the parole system.

“When I go to parole I still feel incarcerated,” said Woodley. He believes that the current parole system places unreasonable curfews and restrictions on people who are trying to reintegrate into society after prison.

Woodley worked as a teacher and mentor while in prison. He said that the most he ever earned in prison was 25 cents an hour.

“If I were paid minimum wage, I’d feel more comfortable putting it on my resume,” said Woodley. “I’d feel more proud. You come home with $40 and a bus ticket. That’s not gonna get you anywhere.”

None of these issues are currently on the ballot for New York State. Nor is program reform or sentencing reform. These are both major issues for Thomas, who thinks that the justice system needs to take more notice of the complex differences between the rehabilitative needs of different prisoners.

But Thomas is encouraged by the direction in which justice reform is headed.

“Everything is progress,” said Thomas. “I think this age that’s coming up is more about fairness. So hopefully it’ll be over soon.”

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections, activists will continue to lobby for reform.

“I really do appreciate the direction that justice reform is headed in, but I can’t put power in the politicians,” said Woodley. “I always put power in the people.”

The post Midterm Elections Could Shape the Future of Criminal Justice in New York appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Beneath a banner reading “Our Great Eight Candidates” Martha Johnson, 73, was working for every vote. Despite heavy rain in the area, she still showed up at the Democratic field office in Brunswick, Georgia to phone bank for Stacey Abrams, the first African American female candidate for governor and other local candidates. She did not break focus from the job at hand.

“I’m making phone calls,” Johnson said. “This is the ground plan, make contact with everybody and encourage early voting, absentee voting and give them deadline dates.”

Johnson’s prior involvement in the campaign efforts were through social media, but she recently made the commitment to phone bank at the field office because she was incensed by the Republican candidate for governor and current Georgia Secretary of State, Brian Kemp’s alleged attempts to suppress Democratic votes.

“I’m really into Stacey,” she said. “For more reasons than one. Mainly because Kemp’s attempt at voter suppression kind of ignited a fight in me. So I’m fighting.”

In recent weeks, national attention focused on the governor’s race in Georgia because a controversial, “exact match” law that passed a year ago has 53,000 voters’ registration status on hold. In what appears to be a major conflict of interest,  Kemp is responsible for state elections and voter registration records as Georgia’s Secretary of State, while he is actively campaigning to be governor.

Abrams has made encouraging voting a priority throughout her career, but has ramped up get out the vote efforts following Kemp’s acknowledgement he is concerned about voter turnout on the democratic side.

Abrams appeared alongside Common and  cicil rights icon Andrew Young to express the importance of voting, especially in this election. Photo by Emma Bolton.

At a recent ‘Souls to the Polls’ rally in Midtown Atlanta, Abrams brought civil rights icon, former UN ambassador, former Atlanta Mayor and former congressman,  Andrew Young, as well as actor and rapper, Common to rally and march to a local polling place, highlighting the importance of voting.

“We have to vote,” Abrams said. “And we know voting works, because if it didn’t work they wouldn’t be working so hard to make sure we couldn’t cast a ballot. In fact, my opponent said this week, he said ‘well look, I’m very concerned if everyone who is eligible to vote cast a ballot she might win.’ Let’s prove him right.”

In South Georgia, the Glynn County Democratic Party Co-Chair, Audrey Gibbons said that getting every potential voter in her area to the polls was crucial to Abrams’ strategy for winning state wide.

“We know we’ve got to turn out the vote for Stacey Abrams to win,” Gibbons said. “And I mean turn out the vote. In District 5 alone in Glynn County we have 14,000 registered voters. That’s enough to turn Glynn County blue.”

Similarly in North Georgia, the Lumpkin County Democratic Party Chair, Ken Akin encouraged volunteers to keep organizing by touting how successful they had already been in increasing voter turnout in the area.

“Every day since we started early voting we have had over a 300% increase over 2014,” he said. “I think we are going to be proud of the results that we are going to see on Election Day. It’s getting purple.”

In Northern Georgia, the Lumpkin County Democratic Party held a get out the vote rally in tandem with the Democratic National Committee and the Georgia Democratic Party. They marched from the town square in Dahlonega to a local polling station to campaign for Stacey Abrams and other local candidates. Photo by Maggie Garred.

Chairman of the Georgia Democratic Party, Dubose Porter attended the rally on Saturday with the Lumpkin County Democratic Party and representatives from the Democratic National Committee in Dahlonega to inform voters about early voting opportunities. It was one of many get out the vote events happening simultaneously across the state.

“We are everywhere, especially today,” Porter said. “There are 80 launch sites for canvassers, so we’re in neighborhoods, just all over the state to remind people what’s at stake this election and now is the time to go vote. There is Saturday voting all over the state today, so we thought we would take today fan out all over the state.”

Porter stressed that the stakes in the election were extremely high. He pointed to Abrams commitment to expanding Medicaid, investing in public education and pushing for diversity as reasons she needed to be elected.

“Are we going to help and lift up everybody or continue to just help a few?” he asked. “That’s what’s at stake. How we change that is, go vote and take somebody with you. And do it today on Saturday and take another crew on Monday and go every day next week ‘til Friday, until we’ve run out of people by November the 6th.”

Although voter purges and exact match laws threaten Abrams’ strategy to win by encouraging historically non-voting populations to vote, Glynn County school board candidate, Regina Johnson, was optimistic that efforts to expand the Democratic voter pool could still turn the state of Georgia blue.

Johnson said Abrams had come to Brunswick’s First African Baptist Church to speak with the community about being civically engaged and educated about issues on the ballot three years prior to running for governor. She saw that long term investment from Abrams as an asset for local candidates and volunteers as they work to get out the vote in 2018 Midterms.

The Democratic Field Office in Glynn County is right in front of First African Baptist Church, where Stacey Abrams spoke to congregants three years ago about the importance of being civically engaged. Photo by Emma Bolton.

“Stacey Abrams came to our church and began a conversation about educating our voters in our community,” Johnson said. “What began three years ago as a conversation is now really in force today.”

Martha Johnson was optimistic that people had responded well to Abrams’ message and had taken the time to vote early after a few hours of making calls to Glynn County constituents.

“This morning, luckily, most have voted,” she said. “So that’s good.”

The post Fear of Voter Suppression Energizes Georgia Democrats appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

This is one of three stops for the day, and one of 17 stops in a three-day bus tour two weeks before election day. Kemp addressed the crowd about the importance of this election.

“We’re in a fight for the future of our state in this election,” Kemp said. “The whole country is watching this race because there’s this so-called ‘blue wave’ out there they think is going to change our Georgia values.”

Kemp and his supporters want to stop “the blue wave” that Democrats hope will sweep the Peach State.

Georgia’s governor’s race has been polarizing, a liberal African American woman, Stacey Abrams vs.a traditional conservative candidate.

Ryan Mohoney, 35, the communications director for the Kemp campaign said he supports Kemp because they focus on the same values: faith, family, honesty, staying true to their roots and being someone that can counted on. But he does not find those values in Kemp’s opponent.  

Abrams is the first African-American to be elected by a major party to run for governor. If elected, she will be the first female, African-American governor in the United States. Abrams’ platform includes expanding Medicaid, supporting women’s rights and healthcare, and creating affordable housing across diverse communities. She has also proposed to expand the Hope Scholarship (a state funded merit-based college scholarship) to create a greater opportunity for more people to get a higher education.

Many of Kemp’s supporters believe her values would be detrimental to traditional America.

“It is the lowering of standards for America across the board,” said Dan Zenda, 49. “For the most part, the focus has been against traditional America and our values from coast to coast.”

Casey Martin, 31, said that she values low taxes and she does not like the expansion of government or Medicaid.

“Stacey Abrams scare me,” Martin said. “And it scares me that someone like that, who believes the way she does, could be in charge of our state.”

In his rally speech, Kemp said that voting for him would send a message to those that support the blue wave.

“Let’s send a message to those folks from California and New York and this so-called blue wave,” said Kemp. “Let’s build a red wall around the great state of Georgia.”

Mark Williams, 48, said he liked Kemp because he is pro-life, pro Second Amendment, pro small government, and an advocate for lower taxes. Although this aligns with the national Republican platform, Williams does not compare Kemp and Trump.

“I like things Trump are doing,” said Williams. “But what Kemp stands for speaks to me more than what Trump does, as far as being conservative and specifically pro-life.”

Other supporters are more interested in one or two specific issues. Kathy Hendricks, 58, has religious reasons to back the pro-life platform.

“I am a southern Baptist,” Hendricks said. “I believe it’s right not to kill babies. I am very worried for the state of Georgia. I know that if it doesn’t stay red, we’re in trouble.”

Lisa Spurlock, 51, is running for mayor of Nahunta. She wants to see the economy grow specifically in rural south Georgia.

“Instead of our economy crumbling, make it build,” Spurlock said. “If we don’t build, we’re not gonna stand. And that’s what I heard from [Kemp] today, to build up everything, not to make them crumble. Everywhere you go, everyone needs something different. We’ve got to start where we can and build up to where we can get to.”

Jimmy Spurlock, 51, agreed with his wife on economic issues and likes where Georgia is already as a red state.  

“We’re on the right, so we’re doing the right thing,” said Spurlock. “I want to see more jobs and I want to see more money in my pocket.”

As Kemp continued in his rally speech, he mentioned healthcare, the Hope Scholarship, school safety, and business expansion. But he came back several times to the theme of  fighting for conservative values against “socialist billionaires” in other states.

In an interview, Kemp said that he recognized how his campaign is part of a bigger narrative about the country’s approval or disapproval of President Trump.

The post Kemp supporters tout “Georgian Values” appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

As red and blue waves continue clashing in Florida in the race for the governor’s mansion this November, a hurricane of people in the general public are fighting for the lives of those battling a politically forgotten crisis.

Palm Beach Gardens resident Angela Tennell has watched gubernatorial candidates Ron DeSantis, Republican, and Andrew Gillum, Democrat, campaign for months. Throughout their election coverage, neither candidate has established a set plan to battle the opioid crisis, an issue that has rampaged throughout the nation and caused significant devastation in South Florida. The crisis has had a devastating impact on her life. Her son’s opioid addiction killed him.

As Tennell watches the two men campaign, she can’t help but recall the words of her son, David Neering – ‘Mom, you’re going to outlive me.’

“It killed me. He goes, ‘I’m going to die’,” Tennell tearfully recollected. “No parent wants to outlive their child.”

In Florida, far too many have. Her son is just one of thousands who have overdosed from opioids in the state. Despite the 5,725 opioid-related deaths reported in Florida in 2016 and the continuing increase of drug use and synthetic drug manufacturing in the state, DeSantis and Gillum have yet to announce detailed plans of action.

DeSantis’ public statements on the issue include only a Tweet linking to a Washington Examiner article about an increase in fentanyl confiscations at the U.S.-Mexico border. His solution in the post references President Donald Trump’s call to build a wall. This position was reiterated during one of his rallies in West Palm Beach on Oct. 6.  

“China’s sending a lot of this fentanyl to Central America. They’re bringing it across the border,” he said. “We’re intercepting a lot of it, but I mean this is really nasty dangerous stuff that can kill a lot of people and he (Gillum) just wants to let it come across the border with no enforcement.”

Gillum has not outlined any specific plans in his recent statements, but in an op-ed for the Palm Beach Post in July 2017, Gillum wrote a general plan to address the crisis.

“… We are going to create a statewide task force of law enforcement, first responders and mental health and patient advocates to address opioids at the state level,” he wrote. “We should restore the $11 million cut in state mental health funding, create opioid intervention courts and work with our Congressional delegation to secure more federal funding.”

Although Gillum had more direct suggestions, neither candidate has offered specific plans on how and when they will address the issue in office. Neither DeSantis nor Gillum responded to requests for comment about the issue.

Addressing the root of the issue

In the past, pharmaceutical companies shared the majority of the blame in the opioid crisis.

State Attorney for Palm Beach County Dave Aronberg explained that the state specifically targeted ‘pill mills – facilities that fraudulently provide addictive substances to patients being treated for substance abuse. While prescription drugs still play a major role in the epidemic, a large source of opioids for addicts is now a synthetic drug called fentanyl.

“The stuff that’s coming in from China is fentanyl and its analogs. That’s where the majority of the death rate is coming from,” Aronberg said. “The pills are more of a problem in that they get people hooked on opioids which eventually leads them to seeking out heroin and fentanyl.”

Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs are some of the most addictive and dangerous opioids available, with potency that can be 100 times more than morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The number of deaths due to fentanyl and fentanyl-analogs in Florida has steadily increased since 2007, but since 2015, the state has seen a dramatic surplus of this cause of death. The 2017 Medical Examiners Commission Interim Drug Report states that in the first half of 2017, the number of reported opioid-related deaths increased by 20 percent and the number of opioid-caused deaths increased by 27 percent. The presence of fentanyl increased by 1 percent and of fentanyl analogs by 383 percent.

Area locals agreed that neither of the candidates are addressing the issue enough, especially in regards to attacking the source of the problem head-on.

Hollywood, Florida resident Linda Schainberg plans to vote for DeSantis, and even though she believes that building a wall will help enforce immigration issues, she does not believe that his priority of building a wall to address the opioid epidemic in South Florida will solve the problem. She would like to see him incorporate more of Gillum’s ideas on the issue. Schainberg  believes that she can count on his impact in office because he falls “under the umbrella” of Trump’s political stances.

“I’m sure he will be (held) accountable for (addressing) opioids, education, gun control, all those things. That’s what he’s been campaigning for,” she said. “He’s adhering to the Make America Great Again agenda and that’s it. That’s why I’m voting for him. That’s less government; that’s education; that’s the opioid crisis.”

Robert Korhonen, left, and Linda Schainberg, right, held an unofficial rally for Ron DeSantis on the side of the road in South Florida on Oct. 5. Photo by Li Cohen

Robert Korhonen, who also plans to vote for DeSantis, said he has not heard the candidate mention the crisis at length, despite attending many of his speaking events. He believes that building a wall will help address the issue, but also acknowledged that pharmaceutical companies should share some of the blame in the high rates of addiction and overdoses in the state.

“There are all kinds of drugs, illegals and disease; they’re bringing all kinds of crap across the border. It’s just flooding over the borders and has been for a long, long time,” he said. “(The wall) will stop the flow of opioids from the southern border to the United States. At least it’ll help that. It comes from other places, too, like Canada or whatever.”

Aronberg supports Gillum’s candidacy, and said that Gillum’s emphasis on expanding Medicaid is a vital component to eliminating the epidemic.

“I haven’t heard anything from DeSantis on the opioid crisis,” he said. “As governor he doesn’t have anything to do with the wall. That’s not a Florida solution, that’s a federal issue and that’s not even a solution in my opinion. Even if it were, being governor of Florida has nothing to do with it.”

Andrew Gillum, Democrat, is running against Ron DeSantis for to be Florida’s next governor. Photo courtesy Andrew Gillum

 Gillum supporter Ted Young hasn’t heard either candidate spend a lot of time on the opioid epidemic.

“I would definitely say that if people have opioid addictions then we need to deal with addiction like we do any kind of sickness or medical issue,” Young said.

The overshadowing of an epidemic

Gillum and DeSantis have each campaigned for months on the hot button issues of education, gun control and the environment. While those issues are crucial to discuss for Florida’s future, the candidates have not responded to  an epidemic that is costing thousands of lives.  

Tom Conrad is a former addict, now in his eighth year of sobriety. He runs the rehab and treatment facility Rock Recovery Center in West Palm Beach to help others struggling with addiction. While he did not disclose which candidate he is voting for this November, he said that the opioid crisis has never truly been at the forefront of politics. He is “keeping his fingers” crossed that tangible changes are made with a new governor in office.

“I don’t think it’s ever really been something that has been that focused on,” he said. “I don’t see it getting better if it keeps going the way it’s going … I don’t know what their plan is, but something has to happen for sure.”

Ben Bueno, an former opioid addict who grew up in South Florida, is the chief operating officer of Rock Recovery. He echoed Conrad’s beliefs on the matter and also chose not to disclose which candidate he plans to vote for.

“I don’t want to have unrealistic expectations,” he said. “If a governor talks about, as part of their campaign, that they’re going to do something about the opioid epidemic, a part of me jumps for joy inside. But then reality sets in, like what does that really mean? Nothing changes.”

In regards to whether a wall would stop the infiltration of drugs in South Florida, he added, “You will never stop drugs from coming into the U.S. We’re the richest, most powerful country in the world. We’re the biggest drug market. Last I checked, Mexico was sending drugs through tunnels underground so I don’t think a wall’s going to stop that. The War on Drugs lost.”

Within Florida, there are 522 facilities that provide substance abuse treatment, according to the 2016 report published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Of those, only 51 offer SAMHSA-certified opioid treatment programs and only 15 of those SAMHSA-certified program facilities receive any kind of state or government funding to help with the cost of treatment.

While SAMHSA-certification is not required to become an accredited facility, the certification process requires that the facility maintain state and federal opioid treatment standards. SAMHSA regularly inspects and surveys the facilities and mandates that the facility has a program sponsor, medical director, quality assurance and control plan, trained and educated staff, maintenance treatment, detox treatment, assessment services, and more.

Manny Llano, CEO of Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health Center, runs one of the few SAMHSA-certified facilities in the state. He believes that neither of the candidates have offered a comprehensive solution to address the crisis happening in Florida. Even though the Behavioral Health Center offers certified treatment and recovery programs, including in-patient and out-patient services available to individuals with a wide variety of insurance carriers, he said  that people who do not have insurance tend to suffer.

At Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health Center, patients who come in for substance abuse and placed in in-patient programs stay in empty rooms with built-in furniture and ample sunlight in an effort to minimize potential harm. Photo by Li Cohen

“I think controlling the borders is important, but having more funding and access to be able to provide services is also the solution,” he said. “A crucial point for us is to be able to have some control over the insurance companies to ensure that services are being provided and that they’ll have open access to funding so that more services can be added to people in need.”

The ending of midterm campaigns, the continuation of a problem

As the midterm campaigns quickly approach their end on Nov. 6, Gillum and DeSantis’ campaign trails have left numerous proposals to better regulate gun control, improve the environment and reform education for students and teachers. Florida residents and treatment facility owners, however, believe the devastating impact of Florida’s forgotten crisis will remain.

Ron DeSantis, center, addresses the crowd at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Oct. 6 about his plans as governor of Florida if he wins the midterm election, none of which include addressing the opioid crisis. Photo by Li Cohen

A former treatment facility owner – who wished to remain anonymous due to a pending FBI investigation into his facility – explained that politicians are failing to address the cost of running a treatment program. A former addict who started using drugs at 15, he has found that the funding and uniform front needed to combat the issue is nonexistent from the government side. He said  that insurance companies don’t want to pay for treatment in halfway houses, causing facility owners to struggle between running an underfunded business and providing a much-needed service to an underserved population.

“It becomes an ethical line of where do you draw the line between helping people and paying the bills. The whole system is not set up for success,” he said. “From detox to halfway houses, the entire system needs to be restructured to be more effective.”

He said within the facility he ran, a detox might cost $3,500 to $4,000 per client per day, not including tests and bloodwork.

“I think all the politicians are worried about are their elections and what can further their careers, so I don’t think anybody really cares on that level,” he said. “It’s so hard to have a unified front because there are so many factions of the government – state, local, federal – and everybody has a different opinion. Then they get elected and nothing happens.”

With only a few weeks left before the final vote, Tennell has only a few words for Gillum and DeSantis to take with them during their final rallies.

“I lost my son. My sister, she’ll never be right. My grandson, his life is hell right now. It pains me … This is very wrong, what’s happening. So many people have lost a friend, a brother, a sister,” Tennell said. “The crisis needs to be covered. It’s not going to go away. There’s no turning your head away from this. If we don’t address this problem, people will still be dying every day, every hour, every minute, every second.”

The post Florida’s opioid crisis forgotten in heated governor’s race appeared first on Pavement Pieces.