( HAMILTON, OH ) -- The Butler County Coroner, Dr. Lisa Mannix, has released the numbers of deaths they investigated in 2016 in her office. Once again, as in 2015, the number of drug overdose deaths far outweighed any other cause of death they'd seen.
Dr. Mannix says that while the numbers didn't rise quite as high in 2016 as in 2015, they were still trending upwards. He says that the stress on the community, whether it be friends and family members of the victims or the police, EMTs, and fire personnel having to respond to these incidents is heavy.
Dr. Mannix touted a program called Project Dawn. People are able to go to the Butler County Health Department and get Narcan (Naloxone) and be trained in the use of it so that they can administer it to a friend or family member who may overdose.
Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones says that there are plenty of programs that work to prevent these incidents, but says he doesn't know any of them that are working. He says that while it's unfortunate, the numbers of overdoses are trending down because most of the "heavy users" are dying out or have already died.
Sheriff Jones says that most of the drugs are coming from Mexico and China, and most of the dealers that his department and others are catching are not from the area, and many are not even from the United States.
Both Sheriff Jones and Dr. Mannix say that cocaine is "making a big comeback," and many drug users turn to that just as much as they turn to heroine.
Video of the Butler County Coroner Speaking:
Photo Gallery of Dr. Mannix showing what is given with Project Dawn:
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