Detox Centers in Palm Harbor, FL

Palm Harbor is in Pinellas County, Florida, where rates of opioid misuse and opioid-related overdose deaths are particularly high. Alcohol misuse is also a serious public health concern in this county, along with substance abuse among youth and teens.

The number of opioid-related deaths in Pinellas County increased by 52% from 2015 (134 deaths) to 2016 (204 deaths).¹ Of the deaths that took place during this time, 50% were caused by painkillers, 31% were caused by a combination of painkillers and illicit opioids, and 19% were caused by illicit opioids like heroin and fentanyl.¹

Between 2015 and 2020, more than 6,500 people in Pinellas County died from a drug overdose.² The county’s forensic laboratory director says many of these deaths were caused by combination drugs that included synthetic opioids, stimulants, animal tranquilizers, and MDMA.² During the first 8 months of 2021, a total of 411 people in Pinellas County died from a drug overdose, compared with 363 people who died from drug overdose during the same period in 2020.² This represented a 13% increase in the number of local overdose deaths from year to year.

Alcohol misuse is also problematic in Pinellas County, which includes Palm Harbor. In 2016, an estimated 20.9% of adults in Pinellas County said they engaged regularly in heavy drinking or binge drinking, compared with 17.5% of adults in Florida who reported the same.³

Rates of youth alcohol and drug use among are relatively high in Pinellas County, where in 2019, an estimated 56.2% of local high school students and 31.4% of middle school students said they used alcohol or illicit drugs.³ Additionally, that same year, nearly 25% of teens in Pinellas County between the ages of 15 and 17 reported riding in a car driven by someone who had recently used marijuana.³

Palm Harbor is home to several drug and alcohol rehab facilities that offer detox and therapy for residents in need of professional addiction treatment. There are currently nine addiction treatment facilities in Palm Harbor out of 1,064 facilities in Florida, which represents about 0.8% of the state’s treatment centers.^{4, 5} These facilities treat both substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.⁵

Four of the Palm Harbor facilities offer drug and alcohol detox to help people safely withdraw from these substances and overcome physical dependency on them.⁴ Six of the 9 facilities offer outpatient rehab programs, and three offer inpatient/residential rehab programs.⁴

Palm Harbor also provides its local residents with access to 47 buprenorphine practitioners, of which there are 2,432 in the state.⁵ Buprenorphine is a medication used to treat opioid dependence, and helps patients stay abstinent by reducing withdrawal symptoms including drug cravings.⁶

Peer and 12-step support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) are widely available in and around Palm Harbor to offer support, encouragement, and motivation to those in recovery from substance use disorders. Groups like AA and NA are free, anonymous, and easily accessible, and effective at helping people achieve long-term abstinence from drugs and alcohol.⁷

AA meetings in Palm Harbor are available seven days a week and take place at various hours of the day. Residents in Palm Harbor who want to attend a local AA meeting can access the full meeting schedule on the Pinellas County Intergroup website.⁸

There is one NA meeting that takes place in Palm Harbor on Sundays at Wall Springs Park.⁹ Fortunately, there are 52 other NA meetings that take place in neighboring cities within a 10-mile radius of Palm Harbor.⁹ Those interested in attending a nearby NA meeting can access the full meeting schedule on the official NA website.⁹

Sources:

1. Pinellas County Opioid Task Force. Strategic Plan 2017-2019.
2. Peace, L. (2021, December 30). Pinellas County drug overdoses likely climbed in 2021.
3. Florida Health Pinellas County. (2019, March). Pinellas County Substance Abuse Profile 2019.
4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Find Treatment.
5. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Find a Facility.
6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022, January 24). Buprenorphine.
7. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2020, September 27). Recovery-Oriented Mutual Self-help Groups.
8. Pinellas County Intergroup. Meetings.
9. Narcotics Anonymous. NA Meeting Search.