South Florida

A Florida nonprofit wants AI to warn communities in real time about drug use

Andrae Bailey, founder of Project Overdose, and Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma, governor-appointed state task force chair, announce a 46% drop in overdose deaths in 2024 during the Project Opioid symposium at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
Andrae Bailey, founder of Project Overdose, and Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma, governor-appointed state task force chair, announce a 46% drop in overdose deaths in 2024 during the Project Opioid symposium at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. South Florida Sun Sentinel

A Florida nonprofit with a mission to combat the state’s overdose epidemic is introducing an artificial intelligence tool that can alert communities about what potentially deadly drugs people are using, in real time.

Project Overdose’s new machine-learning technology, called Drug TRAC, an acronym for tracking, reporting, advocacy and coordination, is being beta-tested in Palm Beach County and Central Florida, with plans to roll out statewide in early 2026, Andrae Bailey, founder of the nonprofit, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Largely using urine drug-testing lab results, the system contains data from tens of thousands of tests per month that show the prevalence and trends of specific types of drugs statewide and at local levels. The goal is to help community leaders and authorities prevent deaths and appropriately respond to the drugs that are actively a threat in their area.

Read the full story at Sun-Sentinel.com.

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