Pubdate: Fri, 16 May 2014
Source: News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Copyright: 2014 The News-Herald
Contact:  http://www.news-herald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/305
Author: Matt Skrajner

HEALTH DISTRICT REPORT DETAILS RECENT UNINTENTIONAL DRUG OVERDOSE 
DEATHS IN LAKE COUNTY

In an effort to better understand the consequences of drug use in Lake
County, the county's General Health District recently released a
report on unintentional drug overdoses in the county.

Partnering with Lake Health and the Lake County Opiate Task Force, the
report details many different statistics about accidental drug
overdoses, which saw an increase to 42 in 2013 compared with 36 in
2012, 37 in 2011 and 35 in 2010.

Dr. David Keep, a pathologist at Lake Health and at the Lake County
Coroner's Office, said he was inspired to gather accurate local
overdose data more quickly, as the problem seemed to really increase
around 2010.

"Especially distressing in that year, there were two Lake County high
school students who passed away (from drug overdoses)," Keep said. "No
one was really talking about this at that time."

Keep wanted to explore how Lake's overdose death rates compared with
numbers at the state level and felt that local statistics were being
compiled too slowly to get a jump on the problem.

He approached the Health District about creating the reports, which
have been produced ever since.

"We need to know what's harming our health and what's killing us,"
Keep said.

Statewide, unintentional drug overdose deaths have increased rapidly
during the last decade. In 1999, just 327 overdose deaths occurred
across Ohio. In 2011, that number had exploded to 1,765, an increase
of 440 percent.

To accurately compare the death rates at state and local levels,
numbers are expressed in terms of deaths per 100,000 people. In 2011,
the last year official data is available statewide, the drug death
rate in Ohio was 16.6 deaths per 100,000 people. In Lake that year, it
was slightly lower at 16.1 deaths per 100,000 people. But in 2013,
Lake's rate had increased to 18.2.

If you look back further in time, the increase is even more striking.
In the 1970s the national drug overdose death rate was about 1.5 per
100,000 people, Keep said.

In Lake County, opiates have contributed to the most overdose deaths,
with 34 in 2012 and 37 in 2013. Of those 71 deaths, 32 involved
prescription drugs and 39 involved heroin. After opiates, the most
deadly drugs in Lake were benzodiazepines, antidepressants and
alcohol. Important to note is that 86 percent of all accidental drug
deaths in Lake County during those two years involved more than one
drug, according to the district's report.

As Keep explained, opiates affect receptors in the brain that control
the respiratory system. Too much of the drug can simply cause
breathing to stop.

Keep and Deputy Health Commissioner Ron Graham noted that not just
illegal drugs, but also prescription drugs such as painkillers,
contributed to overdose deaths.

Last year, 41 percent of deaths were caused by only prescription
drugs. Illegal drugs on their own accounted for 14 percent of deaths,
while a combination of both were blamed in 45 percent of overdoses,
the report showed.

"As a society, we've kind of gotten into this view ... that surgery
should be totally pain free," said Graham, which has resulted in many
more painkillers being prescribed by doctors in recent years.

Now many more Baby Boomers are becoming addicted to painkillers, with
some then switching to heroin as a cheaper alternative, Graham said.

The report's data supports this claim. In 2013, 14 Lake County
residents between the ages of 45-54 died from accidental drug
overdoses, six more deaths than any other age group.

One program to help curb drug overdose deaths is called Project DAWN.
Recently covered in detail by The News-Herald, Project DAWN supplies
opiate addicts with a Naloxone, a drug that can combat the effects of
opiate overdose and restore breathing within minutes.

A "responder," often a friend or family member of an opiate addict,
will be trained to administer the drug in the event of an overdose.
The program is set to kick off on June 10.

Lake County Sheriff Daniel Dunlap said that while the drug can help
save lives, he is not yet completely sold on the idea of giving
handing it out to addicts.

"It may save lives, but I'm wondering if it will create risky
behavior, if it will lead to people doing what they want because
they've got this safety net right in their own hands," said Dunlap, a
board member of the Lake County Opiate Task Force.

Graham said that issue is a concern, but he does not believe many
people will take heroin or other opiates just because Naloxone is available.

"You lose the high immediately when you take Naloxone," said Graham.
"It's definitely saving more lives than not with that program."

To combat prescription drug abuse, unwanted creams, pills, vitamins
and other medications can be dropped off at the Lake County Sheriff's
Office in Painesville or at police departments in Eastlake, Mentor,
Willoughby, Willoughby Hills, Madison Township and at Lakeland
Community College.

A multipronged approach to fighting drug overdoses is necessary, as
Dunlap said it is a complex societal issue.

"Nobody suspects that there's any one thing that will be the silver
bullet that reverses the trend and abuse, in particular right now, of
opiates," he said. "The things that you have to do are incremental and
they are budget driven."  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D