Pubdate: Sat, 19 Mar 2016
Source: Journal-News (Hamilton, OH)
Copyright: 2016 Cox Ohio Publishing
Contact:   http://www.journal-news.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/915
Author: Chris Stewart

OD DEATHS SET RECORD IN BUTLER COUNTY IN '15

The number of people who died from heroin-related overdoses in Butler 
County reached a record level last year, but deaths from heroin and 
its more potent partner fentanyl leveled off in other parts of the region..

Butler County's record 189 overdose deaths (149 were attributed to 
heroin/fentanyl) were 52 more than the all-time high set in 2014.

"The scary thing for us is we had more overdose deaths than deaths by 
natural causes," said Martin Schneider, the Butler County Coroner's 
Office administrator. "The mixture of heroin and fentanyl is a 
particularly potent combination."

The prescription form of fentanyl is used for surgical procedures in 
doctor's offices and hospitals. It is estimated to be 80 times more 
potent than morphine.

But officers who work to fight drug dealing and the violent lifestyle 
surrounding it say dealers aren't stealing fentanyl from hospital 
closets or robbing pharmacies; the form used to cut with heroin is 
manufactured out of the country.

"It is being made clandestinely in Mexico," Commander John Burke of 
the Warren County Drug Task Force previously told the Journal-News. 
He estimated about half of heroin purchased in controlled buys by 
agents is fentanyl.

In Warren County, 44 people died of heroin/fentanyl overdoses last year.

Montgomery County officials and treatment providers said the 
increased availability of naloxone and the public's knowledge of the 
opioid-overdose antidote helped the number of such deaths drop from 
190 in 2014 to 185 last year.

"Last year we really broadened the access to Narcan (naloxone's brand 
name). Some of it's awareness. Some of it is people knowing where to 
turn for help," said Helen Jones-Kelley, executive director of the 
Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board for 
Montgomery County. "But a big piece of it, I think, has been Narcan."

Another chance

James Blanton didn't live to see 2016. The 44-year-old died in Warren 
County in his mother's Springboro home just four days before Christmas.

His partner of 18 years, Jennifer Line, had asked him to leave their 
Kettering home after their son Steven Line, 20, found Blanton in 
early October slumped over in the kitchen. Steven revived his 
stepfather with a Narcan kit the family received free from a local program.

"By all outward appearance, I don't think he looked like what 
people's perceptions of a drug addict would be," Line said. "And 
possibly to himself as well."

Line said she was surprised when mail arrived after Blanton's death 
including a certificate for a successfully completing a treatment program.

At the time, Blanton was working long hours as a press foreman in 
Cincinnati, Line said. They spent their last evening together 
Christmas shopping.

Line said Blanton dropped her off at the Kettering home before 
returning to his mother's house. Line invited him in.

"I should, but I'm tired," Blanton told her. "I've only got three 
days left of these 12-hour shifts, and then it would be Christmas and 
I have a break."

"He said I love you guys, and that was it," Line said.

Line is recovering from a long heroin habit herself. So is her son, Steven.

Narcan's effect

Just five days after saving his stepfather, Steven Line was given 
another chance to live by a medic carrying Narcan. He's now in a 
court-ordered treatment program, according to his mother.

State statistics show emergency medical services administered at 
least 8,381 doses of Narcan last year. Statistics are not final, and 
officials expect the number to approach or exceed the 15,234 doses in 
2014, according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

State legislation over the past two years has not only put naloxone 
in police cars, it's now available without a prescription in many pharmacies.

Earlier this year, CVS, Kroger and other pharmacies started 
dispensing the opioid overdose-reversal medicine without requiring an 
order from a doctor. Community First Pharmacy in Hamilton started 
offering the drug in January after it received approval.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom