Drug testing students proposed at Orange County heroin task...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A new task force created to battle heroin problem in Orange County held its first meeting Monday.

The task force consists of community leaders, drug counselors and law enforcement officials.

The problem of heroin addiction has nearly tripled in the last year, and the number of overdose deaths has spiked, officials said.

The task force will not just target the supply, but also the user, finding new ways to get help for addicts.

Raw: News conference on Heroin task force

"The narcotics always lead to other crimes as well, where they have to go utilize a burglary or a robbery to go get the money to purchase heroin," said Lt. Douglas Goerke, of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation.

Following Monday's meeting, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said officials intend to have some serious solutions in the works within the next six months.

"If we can't reach our children and change their perspective and help them understand just how potent heroin is, how incredibly destructive and devious this drug is, we will not solve this problem," Jacobs said.

Many attribute the increase in heroin use to the crackdown on prescription drugs over the past few years.

But, it's exactly that kind of crackdown that they're hoping the new task force will be able to accomplish.

Timeshare mogul David Siegel was at Monday's meeting where he called for drug testing in schools and putting together a national organization called facing addiction.

"Ten weeks ago my beautiful daughter Victoria died –-- she was 18 years old –-- from an overdose of drugs," Siegel said.
He said he is serious about the school drug testing idea.

In July, 9 Investigates reported how Orlando police used undercover informants to make arrests, how the Orange County Sheriff's Office performed outreach and how the Florida Department of Law Enforcement mapped where overdose deaths occurred, in order to reach potential suppliers.

But now, agents said combining efforts will work, and point to the very task force that successfully reduced the prescription pill problem.

In Orange County, heroin has killed 90 people since 2013, according to the Florida Medical Examiner's Office.