drug crisis in ohio

The Drug Crisis In Ohio Is Changing

In Ohio recently it was learned that the drug crisis is ever evolving. There was recent data that showed this. Overdose deaths that were the cause of meth and other stimulates went up at a shocking rate from 2010 to 2017.

More often than not what is talked about is the rising rate of opioid deaths. This can be dangerous because people forget about the other drugs around. They forget that other drugs are just as dangerous or even more so.

That’s the problem with media fanaticism. It’s also the problem of trying to focus on one thing. The world ends up with tunnel vision. Especially until a new crisis emerges.

There was an increase in unintentional overdoses of psychostimulants. This is a class of stimulants that includes prescription drugs like Adderall and Ritalin alongside the well-known methamphetamines.

They went from causing a mere nine deaths in Ohio in 2010 to a whopping 509 in 2017. That is an increase of 5,000 percent. That is absolutely an insane amount of increase.

These psychostimulants were found in at least 12 percent of unintentional overdose deaths in 2017.

At least 80 percent of these deaths also involved more than the psychostimulants. They actually involved opioids as well. This is most likely helping lead the opioid crisis idea.

More than 70 percent of those overdoses had fentanyl in their system. So the media isn’t really spinning anything out of the control. It’s not wrong. There’s just more to what is going on than one type of drug and that’s the problem. Using all sorts of drugs together is risky and dangerous.

They did this by analyzing death certificate data. This data was retrieved from the Ohio State Department of Health.

This study also found a rise in the use of cocaine. The unintentional overdose involving cocaine in Ohio went up. It went up from 212 in 2010 to 1,520 by 2017. At least 32 percent of all overdose deaths had cocaine in their systems.

A lot of these deaths were also found to include opioids. 80 percent of these deaths in fact. Such a huge number doesn’t go unnoticed.

So it is usually more than just an opioid crisis. Accidental overdoses happen a lot from mixing different types of drugs. But the media has been focusing on the opioid aspect. It’s no wonder why because they seemed to constantly be at fault.

But it isn’t just opioids killing people. It’s all drugs out there that are harmful to those who use them.

This problem has actually distracted from others just as important problems. Clearly as the data shows.

 

 

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