Opiate Statistics

The Franklin County Coroner, Dr. Anahi M. Ortiz, MD, considers opiate-related deaths a cause for concern in Franklin County.

View the latest Opiate Statistics

View 2018 Opiate Statistics

From January 1 to December 31, 2018 the Franklin County Coroner’s Office saw 522 people die of overdoses. This is approximately the same number of overdose deaths seen in 2017.

Opiate-related deaths accounted for almost 92% of overdose deaths for full year 2018. Fueling this was fentanyl which accounted for 79% of all overdose deaths. In the same period for 2017, opiates accounted for 87.8% and fentanyl accounted for 61% of overdose deaths.
Carfentanil-related overdose deaths decreased in 2018 to 1.1%, whereas, in the same period for 2017 they accounted for 18.5%. Heroin-related deaths also decreased to 12.2% from 15.9% in 2017.
Cocaine, methamphetamine and benzodiazepine-related overdose deaths increased in 2018 compared to 2017.

Cocaine: 39.4% vs 35%
Methamphetamines: 10.3% vs 4.9%
Benzodiazepines: 6.7% vs 4%

Looking at race and ethnicity, 22% of those who died of overdose deaths were African American, an increase of 2% from 2017. Hispanics also saw an increase in overdose deaths from 1% in 2017 to 3% in 2018. The Caucasian population saw a decrease in overdose deaths from 78% in 2017 to 74% in 2018.

The number of males dying of overdoses continues to be higher than that of females with numbers unchanged from 2017, males 69%, and females 31%.

The top five zip codes with the highest number of overdose deaths for full year 2018 were 43207, 43204, 43223, 43206, and 43228.