COLUMBUS – Overdose deaths in Franklin County increased slightly in the first half of the year and the number of deaths among women inched upward as well, according to a report from the Franklin County Coroner’s Office.
The office of Dr. Anahi Ortiz recorded 254 people deaths from drug overdoses between January 1 and June 30, an increase of 4 percent from the same period last year.
The number of men who died from overdoses remained higher than that of women, but women accounted for 31 percent of the fatalities, an increase of 2 percent.
The number of African-Americans who died of drug overdoses increased by 7 percent.
The largest number of overdose deaths were clustered in a few Columbus neighborhoods, including Linden, the Hilltop, the Southwest Side, South Side and Northeast Side, Ortiz said.
Opiate-related deaths accounted for 85 percent of the overdose deaths with three-fourths of all overdose deaths attributed to the powerful synthetic opiate fentanyl, Ortiz said.
Heroin- and carfentanil-related deaths remained the same or declined slightly while deaths from cocaine overdoses increases by 2 percent and those from methamphetamines and anxiety-treating benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, remained unchanged.