Dayton OH Reduced Opioid Overdose Deaths by Half

Since one year ago, the number of deaths in Dayton due to opioid overdose has dropped by about half. For Dayton/Montgomery County, the Overdose Deaths in 2017 = 566. Year-to-date 11/15/2018 = 250. An item in the New York Times 11/26/18 offers a number of explanations:

1. The state government expanded Medicaid in 2015, " a move that gave nearly 700,000 low-income adults access to addiction and mental health treatment." In Dayton there are more than a dozen new treatment providers compared to a year ago.

2. Ohio pays for people who go to jail (and thus lose their eligibility for Medicaid) to stay in treatment with their regular provider while they are incarcerated.

3. Carfentanil, a highly toxic street drug, was involved in 1,100 deaths in Ohio a year ago. It is no longer as readily available in Dayton, possibly because traffickers realized carfentanil was killing too much of their customer base.

4. Naloxine (Narcan), a drug that can revive a person with an opioid overdose, is carried by virtually all on-duty EMTs and police officers. Last year Dayton bought $350,000 of Narcan.

5. Dayton has invested in peer support programs.

6. Law enforcement and public health representatives "actually agree" the goal is to reduce overdose deaths by any means. Dayton has 2 needle exchanges , where clients may connect with treatment providers. http://www.phdmc.org/coat

That’s excellent!

Even more impressive is that Dayton OH is a very economically depressed area already and yet they found the financial support needed to get these programs going. Now if they could take off all over.

Dayton is a real crap hole. I used to live there. Glad they are making some progress.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for posting. That's a substantial drop in deaths, especially in only one year. I think what will also be interesting to see is how it affects things near-term: less incarceration, fewer ER treatments, etc. There's a ripple effect on affected families too.
If Dayton can do it, every city should be able to do it.


I'm also following these types of changes because we're looking at a similar big change in AZ. Recently there was a substantial report on the cost of arrest and incarceration and it was clear that AZ is "over-incarcerating" to coin a word. It's incredibly expensive to taxpayers but seems to satisfy a base number of those who want to just lock them up and avoid looking at what's really happening. It will take some political will and perhaps require some willing to blow up their political careers to get this done. www.fwd.us/AtWhatCost

I imagine the vile for-profit prison system has something to do with any political resistance.
Dayton's on the right track. I'd add liberal access to cannabis to the mix.
Also, note that Pharma has recently jacked up Narcan prices.

I'm impressed with Dayton and it's approach here! Good to see something positive before I take off for work. Rob