Casey DeSantis announces social media ads to warn Florida’s youth off drug abuse

“Since 1999, almost 841,000 people have died from a drug overdose. This means losing the entire population of Miami and Tampa combined.”

That’s one of the short social media ads posted on the new “The Facts. Your Future” website, an arm of a campaign spearheaded by First Lady Casey DeSantis to bring awareness to the effects of drug and substance abuse to Florida school children.

The website was launched this week to expand resources to help schools, parents, and teachers deter students from unhealthy drug use.

The new materials focus on shareable ads, infographics, and an educational video on the effects of substance abuse on developing brains. More resources will be added to the webpage throughout the year, according to a Wednesday press release from the governor’s office.

Another short ad focuses on opioids, stating: “Fentanyl deaths in Florida rose 700 percent  in the past five years.”

“We need to reach teens with important information related to substance abuse where they are spending their time — on social media — to help them lead long, healthy, and productive lives,” Ms. DeSantis said.

“In addition, Florida teens will start seeing “The Facts. Your Future” digital components on some of their most visited social channels to increase their awareness of the dangerous and life altering effects of substance abuse on young people,” the press release says.

Ms. DeSantis has been working on the initiative since 2019, along with efforts to boost mental health among Florida students.

The updated materials launched in the middle of National Drug and Alcohol Facts week, March 21 through March 27, established by the The National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Education are also involved in the  campaign.

The health agency tweeted about the updated materials, saying: “This #NationalDrugandAlcoholFactsWeek, let’s ensure young Floridians can make educated decisions about their future with science-based facts and info.” The Education Department retweeted it.

The new website includes a school assembly “tool kit” providing a fact sheet about different drugs and their effects and resources for where to get help if someone is struggling with addiction.

The tagline for DeSantis’s efforts to curtail drug use among kids has been “Just say no … and here’s why,” a reference to the “Just Say No” campaign launched during the 1980s by then-U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan, who died in 2016. Other programs aimed to curtail drug use among kids include the DARE program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).

The DeSantis administration has taken other steps to curtail drug use among kids, such as adopting new standards that require Florida schools to provide instruction on drug use and abuse education in grades K-12.