Lethal mixtures of old, new drugs raise death toll
CINCINNATI — New surges in use of methamphetamine and cocaine mixed with a powerful synthetic opioid are contributing to rising drug overdose death tolls in already hard-hit Ohio.
As county coroners have begun releasing their 2017 tallies, a trend has emerged of more deaths involving meth or cocaine mixed with fentanyl, the painkiller blamed for increasing U.S. fatalities in recent years as authorities focused on reducing heroin overdoses.
U.S. authorities say illicit fentanyl made in China has flooded in while there is increased availability of meth and a rebound in cocaine. All have been contributing to the national rises in overdose deaths and are increasingly being seen in lethal mixes. Authorities say many drug users may be unaware they are taking fentanyl or have any idea how much is in what they’re taking.
States as different as New Hampshire, West Virginia and Florida have seen rising overdose death rates in recent years. The problem is particularly acute in Ohio, where overdose death rates have been climbing steadily this decade.
Spreading fentanyl and increased meth use “have turned an already bad situation into something far worse,” Butler County coroner Dr. Lisa Mannix said recently while announcing a fifth straight record overdose toll in the southwest Ohio county just north of Cincinnati. At 232 deaths, it was up 21 percent over 2016, and Mannix said meth-related deaths quadrupled last year and have soared from one in 2014 to 46 last year. Cocaine-related deaths have doubled in Butler over five years from 28 to 56 in 2017.
Mannix said the cocaine and meth deaths predominantly involved fentanyl mixes.
“It shows the ebb and flow of drugs,” said Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan, who’s on the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition. “They fade out and come back with dealers always trying to find ways to make it more potent, more addictive ... more money.”
Hamilton County’s coroner recently reported seeing more cases of cocaine mixed with illegally manufactured fentanyl as the Cincinnati-based county’s toll jumped 31 percent over 2016 to 529 overdose deaths overall.
Combining opioids and stimulants isn’t new: The comedian John Belushi died in 1982 from a cocaine-heroin “speedball” mixture. But using fentanyl, which authorities say can be 50 times or more stronger than heroin, has heightened the danger.