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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Last year, deadly drug overdoses reached a record high of 4,854 in Ohio, an increase of 20% over the previous year, according to information provided to the state.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, data on deaths from unintentional drugs provided to the Ohio Department of Health 2017 was the eighth consecutive year. Ohio County coroners recorded 4,050 fatal overdoses in 2016.
The review of the data by the newspaper shows that fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has continued to fuel the drug epidemic, accounting for nearly three quarters of overdose deaths last year and 3431 dead. That was 46% higher than the year before. Deaths from cocaine increased 39% from 1,109 in 2016 to 1,540 last year.
The positive data presented by the data included a drop of 46 deaths per heroin to 987 last year, the smallest number of deaths in four years.
The fatal overdoses due to prescription opioids also declined in 2017, dropping to 523, the lowest number in eight years, up from 724 in 2011, the newspaper reported.
Russ Kennedy, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Health, says the study shows that significant progress has been made in reducing the number of prescription opioids available for abuse.
Kennedy confirmed that the health department plans to publish its own analysis of drug-related deaths in 2017 this week. He also noted that the information shows that the number of unintentional overdose deaths in Ohio has decreased by 23% in the second half of 2017.
A recent state report on drug trends said "drug cartels flooded Ohio" with fentanyl, and many users do not realize they have been using heroin and
"Drug traffickers flood communities with different drugs to see what's going on. These are very smart business people, "said Lori Criss, CEO of the Ohio Council of Health Behavioral & Family Services Providers.
Cheri Walter, CEO of the Ohio Association of Health Behavioral Authorities of Ohio, said the toll of victims was high, but that it could have been much worse.
"The reality is that we have focused on opioids and heroin, and now we see more deaths involving other drugs, so we need to (broaden) our attention on treatment" for all kinds of dependencies, said Walter.
The administration of Governor John Kasich spends more than $ 1 billion a year fighting the drug epidemic, primarily to provide addiction treatment through Medicaid's expansion. The government is also investing in providing the opioid overdose antidote, naloxone, first responders and others, as well as supporting efforts, including drug courts, drug convalescence and educational programs.
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