Ohio Sees Record High Heroin Overdose Deaths

http://www.wtrf.com/story/28943697/ohio-sees-record-high-heroin-overdose-deaths

This is the second press release in a couple of days where I have noticed that the term “accidental drug overdose” seems to have been removed the media’s “talking points”… must have been a memo sent out… and not to the general public. It has always been suspect that all the reported “accidental drugs overdoses” were not really accidental but suicides.  Now however, with “drug related deaths” being the descriptive phrase.. will the number of deaths counted and publicized as part of the war on drugs being going up because “related” can be such a far reaching criteria to determine that a death is opiate related.  Lately in the news the “questionable” activities of the DEA over the past decade + has put the DEA’s need to exist and purpose in question. Is this how they are going to try to reenforce with Congress their need to exist and continued to receive increased funding ?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The state Department of Health says once again a record number of Ohioans died from heroin-related overdoses in 2013 as it released the newest available figures for a problem that’s been called an epidemic and a public health crisis.

The state said Thursday that 983 people died of heroin-related overdoses in 2013, up from 697 deaths in 2012.

The heroin increase also drove the overall number of fatal drug overdoses to 2,110 deaths in 2013, up from 1,914 the previous year.

The state says prescription painkiller-related deaths also rose, to 726 in 2013 from 680 the previous year.

Fatal drug overdoses remain the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio, above car crashes, a trend that began in 2007.

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