Overdoses

everything from maintaining employment to getting safe housing to child custody to transportation. Work still needs to be done in supporting people in recovery after treatment, she said, and, while she can’t say for certain, she believes that could be contributing to the overdose death increases.

“But then also the fact that recovery is a long-term process,” Via said, “andwe may not be able to have the resources right nowin place because of everything that was happening in the community.”

East End is spending the last dollars on a discontinued grant for a peer support service for connecting women to others who have walked in their shoes. Via said they haven’t lost anyone in their peer support program to an overdose, but they have seen women with significant needs during this time.

“As overdoses have risen during the pandemic, we encourage people who are struggling to reach out for help,” said Helen Jones-Kelley, executive director of Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug, Addiction and Mental Health Services.

Around Ohio, 19 counties have set or equaled records for the most overdose deaths in a year and this mortality data is preliminary and only partially complete, Harm Reduction Ohio reported on Dec. 17. The nonprofit pushes for ways to reduce harms of substance use and drug policies.

The 19 counties are not in the Miami Valley and mostly in the east and southeast parts of the state.

“In a bit of good news, Montgomery County (Dayton) and the surrounding counties — which were at the center of overdose death in 2017 — are tracking at 40% below the devastating death levels of that carf entanil-driven overdose surge,” Harm Reduction Ohio stated.

Nationwide, over 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the 12 months ending in May 2020, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period, according to provisional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Dec. 17.

While overdose deaths were already increasing in the months preceding the pandemic, the CDC said the latest numbers suggest an acceleration of overdose deaths during the pandemic.

“The disruption to daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement. “As we continue the fight to end this pandemic, it’s important to not lose sight of different groups being affected in other ways. We need to take care of people suffering from unintended consequences.”