Drug Overdose and Fentanyl!

The ODH Violence and Injury Prevention Section (VIPS) collects and utilizes surveillance data to inform prevention programs with the goal of reducing overdose-related fatalities.

• In 2007, unintentional drug poisoning became the leading cause of injury death, surpassing motor vehicle crashes for the first time on record. This trend has continued through 2020.

• 2020 surpassed 2017 as the highest year for unintentional drug overdose deaths, with 5,017 deaths. This was a 3% increase over 2017 and a 25% increase over 2019.

• In 2020:

  • The unintentional drug overdose death rate for Black non-Hispanics (55.2 deaths per 100,000 population) surpassed the rate for white non-Hispanics (46.8 deaths per 100,000 population).

  • Black non-Hispanic males had the highest drug overdose death rate compared with other sex and race/ethnicity groups.

  • Fentanyl was involved in 81% of overdose deaths in 2020, often in combination with other drugs. That percentage was up from 76% in 2019, 73% in 2018, and 71% in 2017.

  • Fentanyl was involved in 83% of all heroin-related overdose deaths, 80% of all cocaine-related overdose deaths, and 79% of all psychostimulant/methamphetamine-related overdose deaths. Carfentanil was involved in 161 fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2020 compared with 508 and in 2019.

c/o: The ODH Violence and Injury Prevention Section (VIPS) https://odh.ohio.gov/know-our-programs/violence-injury-prevention-program/drug-overdose/