Ohio’s Heroin Problem Growing

The state of Ohio is facing one of the worst heroin epidemics in history.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, drug overdoses remain the leading cause of injury-related death in Ohio, surpassing car accidents in 2007. As the death rate continues to rise, 2,482 Ohioans died from an unintentional drug overdose in 2014, which is the highest number of deaths on record. Muskingum County Sheriff, Matt Lutz, said the sheriff’s office is working hard to combat the growing heroin problem in our region, but told us it has to be a community effort.

“We need to be better as a community, it’s a community issue, being more pro-active and getting into schools and talking to these kids and trying to influence them that one wrong decision could affect the rest of your life, and that’s what it comes down to,” Lutz said.

A recent report by ’60 Minutes’ blames part of the heroin epidemic on doctors over-prescribing opioid pain medications, as pain killers are linked to an increase in deaths. The amount of prescription pain pills prescribed by doctors in the U.S. has nearly quadrupled over the last decade, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lutz said people feed their addiction with pills, then transition to heroin because its cheaper and easier to get.

“I think a lot of it is the availability, I think you’re paying just about $100 a gram for the different drugs, I think you can get a quick fix with it, so I think it’s convenient for them, it’s plentiful, and they get a good high,” Lutz said.

Lutz said the sheriff’s office works together with Drug Coalition of Muskingum County to fight the drug epidemic in our area.