COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — From January 1 to June 30, 2020 the Franklin County Coroner’s Office saw 437 people die of overdoses — an increase of 73.4% from the same period last year.
Fentanyl related overdose fatalities accounted for 85.5% of all overdose deaths in 2020 compared to 79% in 2019.
Heroin-related deaths accounted for 5% of all overdose deaths in 2019, while in 2020 it accounted for 2.5%
Cocaine and methamphetamine overdose deaths:
· Cocaine: 46.9%, no real change from 2019.
· Methamphetamines: 14.1%, an increase from the 10% in 2019
27.4%% of those who died of overdose deaths were African American in 2020, similar to 2019 which was 28.1%. The percentage of Hispanics who died of overdose deaths remained at about 3% in 2020 as compared to 2019.
The number of males dying of overdoses continues to be higher than that of females. For the first half of 2020, 71% of males and 29% of females died of an overdose.
The top five zip codes with the highest number of overdose deaths for this period were: 43223, 43207, 43204, 43232 and 43211.
The age range with the highest numbers of overdose fatalities remains 25 to 44 years old.