METH, HEROIN DEATHS SURGE IN OKLAHOMA PRESCRIPTION DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS APPEAR TO BE SUBSIDING IN OKLAHOMA AS NEW LAWS AND OUTREACH EFFORTS TAKE EFFECT. BUT BLACK-MARKET METHAMPHETAMINE AND HEROIN DEATHS ARE SURGING.
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Prescription drug overdose deaths appear to be subsiding in Oklahoma as new laws and outreach efforts take effect. But black-market methamphetamine and heroin deaths are surging. Drug law enforcers and medical professionals said they were both encouraged and alarmed by the latest overdose death data, generated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and compiled by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. The encouragement comes from increasing evidence that tougher oversight and outreach are causing the toll of prescription drug overdoses to stabilize and decline slightly. “Deaths are down because of greater use of the Prescription Monitoring Program and greater awareness by physicians, through conferences, through training, through just networking,” said Narcotics Bureau spokesman Mark Woodward. The alarm stems from a troubling rise in methamphetamine and heroin deaths, some of which might be attributable to former prescription drug users switching to cheaper bootleg drugs. “The Mexican cartels are just pouring ice into this country in record amounts,”
Probably the biggest impact is just more physicians becoming aware that this is a big issue.
- Lyle Kelsey executive director ofthe Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision .
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Woodward said, referring to black-market methamphetamine. “It’s simply just to feed the demand, which still remains very, very high for meth.” Heroin has been making a comeback across the country. The latest data suggests that Oklahoma drug users are beginning to make that transition, too. “Talking to people in recovery, I’ll ask them, ‘What was your drug of choice?’” Woodward said. “Five years ago, it was meth, meth, meth and prescription drugs. But for the last two or three years, (many) said it was heroin.”
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