Fentanyl, heroin driving increasing number of unintentional overdoses


Staff report

COLUMBUS

The number of unintentional drug overdoses continued to rise in the state in 2015, according to new statistics released by the Ohio Department of Health.

A record 3,050 Ohio residents died as a result of overdoses last year, up from 2,531 in 2014 and 2,110 in 2013.

The number has risen every year since 2009; since 2010, nearly 13,000 Ohioans have died from unintentional drug overdoses.

Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic narcotic that users are mixing with heroin, was a big driver of the increase, accounting for 1,155 unintentional overdose deaths last year, up from 503 in 2014 and 84 in ’13. Fentanyl-related deaths were mostly in the single digits during the previous half a dozen years.

“Ohio was one of the first states to see the rise of fentanyl over the past couple of years, as the opiate epidemic continues to evolve to more powerful drugs,” said Mark Hurst, medical director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Heroin was the second-biggest driver of Ohio’s results, accounting for 1,424 unintentional overdose deaths in 2015, up from 1,196 in 2014 and 983 in ’13.

Youngstown Police Chief Robin Lees, who has spent a majority of his 30-year-plus career in law enforcement dealing with narcotics investigations, said he is surprised at how popular opiates have become. He said it reminds him of the rise in crack-cocaine use in the early 1990s.

Read more about the danger in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.