In an effort to keep our community informed on the opiate crisis in Franklin County, we are releasing preliminary statistics for the entire 2017 year.
From January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 there were 520 overdose deaths in Franklin County. This is a preliminary number as not all cases have been finalized. We have seen approximately a 47.3% increase in overdose deaths from 2016 to 2017. Fueling this increase is fentanyl.
Fentanyl related overdose deaths accounted for 66.5% of all overdoses compared to 2016 when it accounted for 40.7% of all deaths. Cocaine related overdose deaths were 36% of all overdose deaths compared to 34% in 2016, so just slightly higher. Methamphetamine related overdose deaths were 4.6% of all overdose deaths in 2017 compared to 2% in 2016. Heroin related overdose deaths have seen a decrease in 2017: 16% in 2017 vs. 40.7% in 2016. Overall, opiate related deaths in 2017 accounted for 81% of overdose deaths versus 75.3% in 2016.
Decedents under 39 years of age accounted for 56% of the overdose deaths in 2017 which was a slight increase from 2016. In 2016, 50% of overdose deaths occurred in those 39 and under.
The majority of overdose deaths in 2017 were males: 68% male vs 32% female. This is an increase of 10% in female overdose deaths from 2016: 78% male vs 22% female.
White males were again the majority of overdose deaths in 2017: 78% white vs. 20% African American vs. 2% other. In 2016 we saw: 79.6% white vs. 19.2% African American vs. 1.2% other.
The five zip codes with the highest number of overdose deaths continue to be 43207, 43223, 43232, 43211 and 43204.
This information will also be available on our website in a few days’ time:
https://coroner.franklincountyohio.gov. Please see attached graphs for visual representations of the statistics.