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. - Cindy Grant grew up among a large family of lobster fishermen, but after moving to Tampa she suffered an unimaginable tragedy. Now she has dedicated her life to helping others overcome substance abuse.    

Vaping is not an issue only for high school students. Gary White, the associate director of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance (HCADA) in Florida, provides vaping and tobacco education to students who have been cited per state statutes. The youngest student he has worked with was only nine. Recently, the organization worked with a 10-year-old boy who had been caught with 12 Juuls in school. (Juul is a popular brand of e-cigarette.) “When he attended our class, we questioned why he had so many Juuls,” says White. “His reply was, ‘A man at my apartment gave them to me. He said he’d pay me a part of the money I made when I sold them.’

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.