Accidental Overdoses Killed 3,050 People in 2015

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- Ohio officials say accidental overdoses killed a record 3,050 people in the state last year, or an average of 8 per day.

Over one-third of those were linked to the powerful painkiller Fentanyl. A report released on Thursday shows Fentanyl-related deaths more than doubled from 2014, pushing the overdose toll to a record.

Steve Carrel, C.E.O. at Muskingum Behavioral Health said that Fentanyl is commonly mixed with heroin and users of the drug are unaware of it.

“They don’t know that Fentanyl is in their next dose and because of the power it has, then they accidentally overdose, because they have no idea that it was in there.”

Carrel said that Ohio’s addiction epidemic problem can be solved with treatment, intervention, and prevention, but we need to get these people the help they need immediately in order to end these overdose-related deaths.

“If we’re going to really do this it’s not going to be Columbus that saves us, it’s not going to be Washington that’s going to save us, it’s going to be everyone in their living rooms that’s going to have an impact on this problem.”

If you have any questions, you can contact Muskingum Behavioral Health at (740)-454-1266.