Law enforcement now has a way of detecting waves of harmful drugs entering their communities as they're happening, as well as predicting future waves.
That's because of a new AI-powered drug tracker produced by Project Overdose – a Central Florida organization focused on ending the drug and opioid crisis.
DrugAlert.Ai works kind of like hurricane radar, said Andrae Bailey, the founder of Project Overdose. Before Doppler technology, communities weren't sure when a hurricane would strike and what kind of impact it might have, he posited.
"You had to prepare as though every storm was the big one, and so then you really couldn't prepare. That's really how it works with drugs in our country right now. We have wave after wave of dangerous new drugs," Bailey said.
He said DrugAlert.Ai uses blood and urine data samples collected by private health testing companies to identify drugs entering a community. It does not identify individuals. Then the artificial intelligence includes demographic and community history to predict trends.
"We can see drugs moving sometimes in a 24-hour period of time; our database is updated every 24 hours," he said.
This year, Project Overdose made its public debut when it worked with the Orange and Seminole county sheriff's offices to identify a harmful wave of carfentanyl (a rare and dangerous synthetic drug) that was being mixed with other popular methamphetamine drugs used recreationally at Orlando's Electronic Daisy Carnival.
The annual music festival, which draws thousands of young people from across the world, has developed an infamous reputation as a drug haven.
"We couldn't stop these drugs from coming into the community, but we could warn those who are at the festival to be careful, and that's something we've never been able to see and do before," Bailey said.
With the knowledge of an incoming drug wave, health workers and law enforcement were able to plan accordingly.
"If we see tremendous amounts of methamphetamines flowing into certain parts of Florida right now. Remember, naloxone does not work on methamphetamines. Naloxone would only work on opioids," said Bailey, refering to the medication used to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.
If health workers or law enforcement encountered an overdose, they can make quicker decisions if they know which drugs are prevalent, Bailey said.
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office was impressed with the tech.
"Florida has made real progress, but this fight is far from over," Sheriff Dennis Lemma said in a press release. "Tools like these will allow law enforcement and public health leaders to see emerging threats earlier and respond faster to save lives."
More communities are interested in DrugAlert.Ai, Bailey said, as the tech will expand into at least two more counties.
"This needs to be used at a community level. It's really, it's really community leaders that have to use the tool if they're going to be effective," he said. "We can do advocacy as we did with [Electronic Daisy Carnival]."
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