HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LATEST STATISTICS:
• The total number of deaths officially attributed to overdoses dipped to 823 in 2015 from 870 the previous year. From 2001 to 2010, the number of fatal overdoses increased 137 percent, from 344 to 814. Since 2010, the annual death toll has increased only 1 percent. • Five frequently-prescribed opioid painkillers were a factor in 482 deaths last year, or 59 percent of all fatal overdoses. In 2010, those five drugs contributed to 588 deaths, or 72 percent of the total. Oxycodone was the most frequent offender, followed closely by hydrocodone. (Because some deaths involve “cocktails” of lethal drugs, the individual drug tallies add up to more than 823.) • Prescription benzodiazepine tranquilizers continue to be a factor in many overdoses, showing little change over five years. Alprazolam (Xanax) and diazepam (Valium) contributed to 195 deaths last year, or 24 percent of total overdoses. “Benzos” are seldom lethal by themselves but can be deadly when combined with opioids or alcohol. • Methamphetamine overdoses are soaring. They accounted for 265 deaths last year, or nearly a third of all fatal overdoses. The total represented a 157 percent increase since 2010ʹs death toll of 103. The fatality count keeps climbing despite a dramatic decline in the number of Oklahoma meth lab busts. Officials attributed the change to surging imports of Mexican meth. • Heroin overdoses might soon account for 1 in 10 opioid-related deaths in Oklahoma. They increased to 31 last year from only 12 in 2011. So far in 2016, they are on track to hit 40 or more. Health experts said the increase reflects the rising cost of prescription painkillers as well as increased imports by Mexican cartels. “We’re seeing an increase in heroin because of the cost of Oxy (oxycodone),” said Hal Vorse, a physician who treats addicts at a clinic in Oklahoma City.
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