Overdose deaths down in Washington County in 2022
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Deaths attributed to drugs began to climb in 2002, with a jump from nine fatal overdoses in 2001 to 23 the following year. But the height of the crisis hit Washington County in 2016 with 109, the highest on record.
Courtesy of Washington County Coroner’s Office
The Washington County Coroner’s annual report showed 88 people died from drug overdoses in 2022.
Courtesy of Washington County Coroner’s Office
The annual coroner’s report shows a decrease in the number of drug-related overdose deaths in 2022. The report includes information on deaths resulting from homicides, suicides, and motor vehicle accidents.
Drug overdose deaths declined in Washington County in 2022, with 88, according to the Washington County Coroner’s annual report.
The 88 deaths is a significant drop from 2021, when 106 drug-related deaths occurred, the second-highest number of overdose fatalities on record.
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco said he is hopeful the decrease is a sign that drug abuse prevention efforts implemented in the county over the last several years are having an impact.
“Hopefully, all of the various programs in the county – education efforts, prevention programs, news media outlets’ reports on opioids – are working,” said Warco.
A coalition of various groups in Washington County has worked to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic, increase availability and accessibility to substance use services, clamp down on drug dealing, and make naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, readily available to anyone in the community.
“It’s definitely a positive sign, given the fact that each year there are stronger and stronger drugs coming out and we’re constantly having to battle against those drugs,” said Cheryl Andrews, Executive Director of Washington Drug & Alcohol Commission.
Andrews credits the Washington County Opioid Overdose Coalition – launched in 2016 and comprised of the district attorney’s office, Washington Drug & Alcohol Commission, the local bar association, faith-based organizations, government, addicts in recovery and the county’s Children and Youth Services and jail and legal aid organizations, among others – and its efforts aimed at prevention, treatment, and making sure people have the support they need all through recovery.
“And (the district attorney’s office) is prosecuting high-level, high-profile cases, and there’s been a coordination between public health and public safety,” said Andrews.
Media campaigns emphasizing there is no safe use of illegal drugs and encouraging people not to use alone also have had an impact, Andrews said.
District Attorney Jason Walsh said the drop in drug deaths is “good news.”
“The combination of treatment and awareness, and the crackdown on drug dealers has contributed to that,” said Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh. “We put a lot of resources into aggressively prosecuting drug deliveries resulting in death. I dedicate one to two prosecutors to prosecute just those cases alone. We’re taking (drug dealers) out of the equation.”
The number of deaths in 2022 is markedly higher than the 36 deaths in 2012. Since 2016, when 109 people died from overdoses, the fewest overdose deaths recorded was 76 in 2018 – still more than double the number a decade ago.
Increasingly, two or more drugs are involved in overdoses, because some drugs are intentionally cut with other substances, such as fentanyl and cocaine or fentanyl and heroin, which increases the potency and deadliness.
Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids continued to contribute to overdose deaths in the county. Heroin was a contributing factor in only five deaths, while alcohol accounted for two, Warco reported.
Fifty-three males were victims of overdose, while 35 females died.
Officials said the number of people who died from a drug overdose last year, while lower than the previous year, is still too high.
“Eighty-plus overdose deaths is a tragic loss of life. Every death impacts many family members and friends, and if you extrapolate that, it has a tremendous impact on the community,” said Warco. “And no family, race, or creed is immune to this.”
The report also showed the coroner investigated 2,918 deaths in 2022.
There were 10 homicides (eight were the result of firearms) and 38 suicides, the same number, respectively, as in 2021. Traffic-related deaths decreased from 21 in 2021 to 12 last year.