Delta 8 is said to be about two-thirds as potent as cannabis, and it's often sold in gas stations and smoke shops. It's legal thanks to a loophole created in the 2018 Federal Farm Bill.

The Hillsborough report found half of the edibles, including Delta 8 cereals, used cartoon characters and animals that might be appealing to minors.

Ellen Snelling, a board member of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance, has been wanting commissioners to act.

"It’s completely unregulated, fruit flavors, gummy bears. Bright colors attracted to children all allowed in the state of Florida. If this was laying on your dining room table a child would eat the entire package," she told commissioners at a previous meeting.  

TAMPA, Fla. (June 30, 2021) – Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance (HCADA), a community-based nonprofit offering alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse education and prevention activities since 2003, is excited to announce its relocation, effective July 1, 2021.

HCADA will be moving from its current location at 2815 E. Henry Avenue, Suite B-1 in Tampa to new office space on the campus of their longtime partner organization, Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc. (ACTS), at 4612 North 56th Street.

“We’re excited about the move,” said Executive Director Cindy Grant, “and very grateful to ACTS not only for the space but also for our many years of partnership in substance abuse education and prevention.”

Denise Birungi Evans of HCADA offers tips for a safe, drug-free homecoming season for high school students.   

It is estimated that 14 people die from an opioid drug overdose each and every day in our state, and Tampa Bay is ground zero for this deadly crisis. While Governor Rick Scott has declared a public health emergency and set aside millions of dollars to fight the opioid epidemic, is it enough? How did opioid addiction get so out of hand and what can be done about it?

At the age of 17, he took the life of Linda Unfried’s sister, Josie DiStefano Palomino, in a DUI crash.

Unfried founded the Hillsborough chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in the wake of her sister’s death 31 years ago. She remains vigilant today. She thinks of the teen involved in her sister’s death and wants desperately to reduce underage drinking.