Rubio, Buchanan to hold heroin roundtable in Bradenton

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Vern Buchanan, both of whom are running for re-election, will gather Monday at a roundtable discussion at Manatee Memorial Hospital to talk about the heroin and opioid epidemic.

Health care officials, local law enforcement and community leaders will also be at the discussion at noon, according to Rubio’s office.

In May of this year, Rubio chaired a Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women’s Issues hearing to discuss the heroin epidemic across Florida and the U.S.

Buchanan most recently visited the Safe Children’s Coalition in Bradenton to discuss the best use of federal funds to fight the heroin epidemic.

Rubio is running against District 18 U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy for the Senate seat in November, while Buchanan is running against Sarasota Democrat Jan Schneider for the 16th Congressional District seat.

Manatee County has been the hardest hit by the heroin epidemic in Florida. In 2014, Manatee led all 67 counties in heroin overdose deaths per capita, and this year it’s already seen almost 900 suspected heroin overdoses.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Rubio, Buchanan to hold heroin roundtable in Bradenton."