By Brian Dowling
Boston Herald
BOSTON — Overdose deaths from heroin, fentanyl and other opioids skyrocketed in the Bay State last year, increasing by as much as 24 percent as the deadly drugs claimed nearly 2,000 lives, according to newly released state data.
A state Department of Public Health report said there were an estimated 1,979 opioid-related deaths in 2016.
“The opioid epidemic continues to threaten individuals and families all across Massachusetts and the country,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement. “Our administration will continue our intense focus on fighting this epidemic by further increasing treatment options and expanding support for law enforcement and their efforts to arrest and convict drug traffickers who prey on vulnerable people, selling them more and more deadly and addictive substances.”
Opioid-related ambulance trips were reported in 280 of the 351 Massachusetts cities and towns.
Although heroin killed fewer people in 2016, those deaths only decreased as more lives were lost to fentanyl — the synthetic opioid that can be 50 times more powerful than heroin and cut into the drug without the user knowing it. About 75 percent of the 2016 deaths tested positive for fentanyl, the report said.
A bright spot in the new Department of Public Health data was the 15 percent decrease in opioid prescriptions, which experts say can lead to an addiction and prompt patients to seek out heroin when their medication runs out.
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