Fewer people died in Cuyahoga County as a result of heroin use in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year.
The decrease is small – 7 percent. But it’s encouraging news, since it suggests a trend of more and more deaths from heroin each year may be reversing.
Heroin contributed to 90 deaths in the first six months of 2014. Of those, a large majority were white and male. The deaths were split almost evenly between residents of Cleveland and suburban areas.
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald announced new funding to prevent opiate overdose deaths by equipping police officers with the antidote drug naloxone. An existing naloxone distribution program has been credited with preventing 61 deaths since last March.