By Sydney Holder Riverbend News
Over rising concerns regarding the methamphetamine epidemic, a coalition of rural sheriffs from 15 counties held a meeting with Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday, May 27. The sheriffs sought to express incarceration is not a solution and rehabilitation is the key to addressing the epidemic.
"Incarceration is not the end goal or solution," Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith's Facebook page reads. "Resources are needed for rehabilitation, prevention and enforcement. It is necessary to have a multifaceted approach to address the associated issues."
According to Sheriff Smith, DeSantis was attentive to the issue at hand and expressed intent to aid the sheriffs in anyway possible, particularly through funding.
Several meetings regarding the methamphetamine epidemic have been held following up to the meeting with Governor DeSantis. The rural county sheriffs who met with DeSantis include: Calhoun County Sheriff Kimbrel, Dixie County Sheriff Butler, Gilchrist County Sheriff Schultz, Glades County Sheriff Hardin, Gulf County Sheriff Harrison, Franklin County Sheriff Smith, Hamilton County Sheriff Reid, Holmes County Sheriff Tate, Lafayette County Sheriff Lamb, Liberty County Sheriff Money, Madison County Sheriff Harper, Taylor County Sheriff Padgett, Union County Sheriff Whitehead and Washington County Sheriff Crews.
DeSantis' plans to increase funding are currently underway and the rural sheriffs have been receiving assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
"We appreciate the governor for taking the time out of his busy schedule to address the problems rural sheriff's offices have in reference to the illegal sale of narcotics and the funding for rehabilitation resources," Lafayette County Sheriff Brian Lamb said. "We are happy to see the governor's commitment to helping our cause and we can see progress being made already with the assistance of the FDLE. Having a collective group of rural sheriffs like this can make setting up meetings in advance difficult, but we are surely planning on having future meetings."