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County Drug Overdose Deaths Up 73% In First Half Of 2020

Franklin County coroner Doctor Anahi Ortiz says fatal overdoses jumped 73% in the first half of 2020, with 437 deaths.  

Fentanyl compounds remain responsible for the bulk of deaths.  85% of overdoses involved fentanyl alone or combined with other drugs, up 5% from the same period in 2019.  Ortiz says methamphetamine related fatalities increased slightly in 2020.

The demographics of overdose remain largely unchanged.  

52% of overdose deaths occured in people aged 25-44, another 22% were 45-54.  

There was a 2% drop in the number of women who overdosed, 71% of deaths were men.  

Around two-thirds of all drug fatalities in Franklin County were white.   

 
 

A native of Chicago, naturalized citizen of Cincinnati and resident of Columbus, Alison attended Earlham College and the Ohio State University. She has equal passion for Midwest history, hockey and Slavic poetry.
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