Subject:
Title
Ordinance amending the Pinellas County Code Chapter 86 related to the County Drug Paraphernalia Ordinance.
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Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Conduct a public hearing and adopt the proposed amendment to the County Drug Paraphernalia Ordinance revising County Code Section 86-106, clarifying definitions in alignment with recent statutory changes to adjust language and exclude products for xylazine testing to promote the health, safety, and welfare of residents.
• In 2005, Pinellas County adopted resolution 05-195 to establish a Drug Paraphernalia Abatement Task Force. As a result of Task Force recommendations, the County adopted Ordinance 06-73, to help mitigate possible community impact and limit access by youth.
• Since adopting the ordinance, Pinellas has experienced the impacts of the prescription drug epidemic and the resulting opioid crisis from the illicit drug market, with overdose-related deaths at 426 deaths in 2024 and 266 deaths in 2025.
• In recent years, fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and xylazine have emerged as major drugs of concern driving overdoses nationwide. Often individuals are unaware of the presence of these substances, resulting in severe risk of poisoning, hospitalization, and death.
• In response to this growing threat, the State of Florida passed House Bill 477 revising drug paraphernalia definitions to add exclusions for xylazine testing products effective July 1, 2026, in order to help reduce possible overdoses and save lives. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogue testing products were previously excluded by the State of Florida and Pinellas County.
• Based on the statutory change, Pinellas County is seeking to amend our ordinance in alignment with statute to incorporate the xylazine testing product exclusion language and help protect the health and safety of our residents.
• This ordinance change has no fiscal impact to Pinellas County. Additionally, this change creates no new business impacts.
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Strategic Plan:
Healthy and Safe Communities
2.1 Improve public health.
2.2 Enhance community safety.
Smart Service Delivery
4.4 Pursue continuous improvement.
Summary:
Summary
This proposed amendment to the Drug Paraphernalia Ordinance revises Section 86-106 Pinellas County Code to exclude products for xylazine testing in alignment with recent statutory changes.
In recent years, fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and xylazine have emerged as major drugs of concern driving overdoses nationwide. Often individuals are unaware of the presence of these substances resulting in severe risk of poisoning, hospitalization, and death. In response to this growing threat, the State of Florida passed House Bill 477 revising drug paraphernalia definitions to add exclusions of products for xylazine testing effective July 1, 2026, in order to help reduce possible overdoses and save lives.
Fentanyl and fentanyl analogue testing products were previously excluded by the State of Florida and Pinellas County.
Based on the statutory change, Pinellas County is seeking to quickly incorporate the same exclusion language locally in order to help protect the health and safety of our residents. The proposed change will clarify definitions to align with recent statutory changes excluding products for xylazine testing to promote the health and safety of residents.
The change creates no new regulatory impacts on businesses, and the item was publicly noticed.
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Background Information:
In 2005, Pinellas County adopted resolution number 05-195 to establish a Drug Paraphernalia Abatement Task Force (Task Force) to research, fact find, and discuss the impact of drug paraphernalia sales in the County. The task force included fifteen (15) members including elected officials, law enforcement, education and youth representatives, neighborhood leaders, and service providers in the drug treatment and recovery field.
The Task Force researched community impacts and heard from community stakeholders as part of their efforts and reported by to the Board of County Commissioners (Board) in 2006 with recommendations. The Board adopted the drug paraphernalia ordinance on October 10, 2006, to help mitigate possible community impact and limit access by youth.
The ordinance was reviewed and updated in 2012 and updated for fentanyl and fentanyl analogue testing products in 2023. Human Services plans to undertake a full review of this ordinance to receive updated stakeholder input, assess future needs, and define recommended changes.
Fiscal Impact:
Human Services anticipates that this proposed ordinance chang will require no additional staff time or fiscal impact.
Staff Member Responsible:
Karen Yatchum, Director, Human Services
Partners:
Law Enforcement Agencies
Pinellas County Opioid Task Force
Behavioral Health Providers
Local Consumers
Attachments:
Proposed Ordinance Amendment
Proposed Ordinance Amendment Redline
House Bill 477 (Enrolled)
Ordinance Amendment 24-1 excluding Fentanyl Testing Products
Notice of Public Hearing
Business Impact Assessment