Butler County One of Top in Ohio for Meth Overdose Deaths
April 20, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.
Ranking 8th in the state for all drug-related overdose deaths in Ohio in 2020, Butler County’s addiction problem has continued to take the lives of residents.
Heroin deaths have been on the decline, with Methamphetamine, Cocaine, and Fentanyl deaths taking on the title as the biggest killers of Ohioans who died as a result of an overdose. Ohio suffered from its highest amount of overdose deaths in 2021 and is on track to exceed the record again in 2022.
With an overwhelming number of overdose deaths, it is easy to assume that Ohio has a high number of illicit drug users, however, studies show that Ohio is average in its drug use compared to the rest of the United States. In fact, Ohio ranks below average for Meth, Alcohol, Cocaine, and Marijuana use when looking at the nation as a whole. So what does this mean? Ohio has higher than average overdose deaths in relation to the number of illicit drug users. In other words, Ohio’s drugs are killing people more than other states.
There are many contributing factors to this, fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are becoming increasingly common and are being mixed into other drugs such as cocaine and meth. The issue has been prevalent for years and continues to increase in frequency as shown by Miami University students who studied the rate of overdose deaths with Butler County Coroner Dr. Lisa Mannix, their data can be found at http://dataviz.miamioh.edu/Butler_County_Overdose_Deaths.
Treatment options are often unavailable to those with substance abuse disorders, costs are high both financially and socially. The stigma surrounding drug use is often one of the biggest barriers preventing successful abstinence for many drug users, many falsely believe that they do not deserve the help. Butler County has resources for drug and alcohol abuse treatment, for more information visit http://www.bcmhars.org/services/index.php. To order your completely free Narcan, visit HarmReductionOhio.org to complete a quick 5-minute training and have Narcan mailed discreetly to your home.