NEWS

Ohio drug overdose deaths up sharply

Jona Ison
Gannett Ohio

Fentanyl-related drug overdose deaths increased nearly 500 percent across Ohio in 2014, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Health.

This is some of the blue drop heroin police reported they seized June 10 in Marion. Blue drop heroin is cut with fentanyl, making it much more potent.

The increased presence of fentanyl, an opioid that is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, was a significant contributor in a nearly 18 percent increase of overall overdose deaths in 2014. Of the record-breaking 2,482 overdose deaths, 502 of them involved fentanyl.

“At the same time we are experiencing positive progress in our fight against drug addiction, such as fewer opiates being dispensed and a decrease in high-doses of opiates, we are also seeing some individuals begin to use more dangerous drugs to achieve more intense effects,” said Dr. Mark Hurst, medical director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “As they build up tolerance to drugs they’re using, they may progress, for example, from prescription pain pills, to heroin, to fentanyl, which is often cut into heroin.”

Unintentional drug overdose remained the leading cause of injury-related death for Ohioans in 2014. The majority of overdose deaths, 59 percent, involved more than one drug.

Richland County had 31 overdose deaths in 2014, up from 22 in 2013.While fentanyl was present in about 20 percent of the state’s overdose deaths, heroin was present in more than 47 percent and prescription pain pills were present in nearly 47 percent.

The Cincinnati and Dayton region accounted for at least 44 percent of the fentanyl-related deaths in 2014, but the drug has been showing up in more rural areas.

Fentanyl-laced heroin is what led to a spate of overdoses in Marion in May. Nearly 30 people overdosed on the “blue drop” heroin in fewer than two weeks, and two people died. A dozen people have been arrested, including the alleged main supplier.

The increased presence of fentanyl follows what law enforcement officials have reported in drug seizures. According to the National Forensic Laboratory System, there was a 300 percent increase in fenatanyl drug reports across the nation from the second half of 2013 to the first half of 2014.

While fentanyl is available as a prescription, the prevalence of the drug is not a result of those prescriptions being diverted, said Richard Hodges, director of the Ohio Department of Health. Most of the time, the fentanyl is being made illegally and supplied in the same way as heroin, said John Born, director of the Department of Public Safety.

The fentanyl seized often looks like heroin or is mixed in with heroin, Born said.

“In some cases, users may not know (they’re using) fentanyl,” Born said, noting law enforcement doesn’t always realize fentanyl is present until test results come back.

Whether people know they’re using fentanyl or not, its potency advances the severity of the addiction.

“For opiate addiction, particularly for the more severe forms, and fentanyl is certainly the most severe, the importance of medically assisted treatment (increases),” Hurst said.

Using medications such as Suboxone or Vivitrol in opioid treatment can improve recovery chances for recovery threefold, he said.

Although the picture looks bleak, Hurst thinks Ohio has many of the necessary ingredients in place to start reversing course. He compared the fight to the one to reduce cardiac deaths.

“To effectively deal with any medical disorder, we need prevention, early intervention, treatment and life-saving measures. ... I think there’s every reason to be hopeful that we’ll see a decline (in overdose deaths) just like we did cardiac deaths many years ago,” Hurst said.

Ohio has continued to expand its prevention piece, Start Talking, and is investing $1 million over the next two years in buying naloxone, a drug that helps reverse overdoses, that can be provided to people in the community.

“We are committed to aggressively fighting opiate abuse in Ohio, including the rise of fentanyl,” said Andrea Boxill, coordinator of the Governor’s Cabinet Opiate Action Team. “We’re building on the many good things we are already doing by pursuing new initiatives to strengthen drug abuse prevention, expand efforts to control access to opiates; and continue to enhance access to treatment, but much more needs to be done to address this new crisis facing Ohio.”

The 2014 overdose numbers were released seven months ahead of the typical schedule and just six months after the 2013 data. In the past, the Ohio Department Health waited to get complete, “perfect” data, Hodges said. However, because of high demand for the numbers, the department reviewed previous years and discovered if they had released the report earlier, it wouldn’t have changed significantly.

By getting the data out more quickly, the Ohio Department of Health hopes officials and communities will be able to have a “better understanding of the challenges they face and the tactics necessary to take on the struggle against drug abuse,” according to a news release.

Ohio also is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fully analyze the fentanyl-related overdose death data.