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Opioid deaths in Washtenaw County reaching all-time highs

Opioids
Eric Norris
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flickr.com

Washtenaw County is seeing a significant spike in deaths caused by drug overdoses.

According to the latest datafrom the county health department, 78 people died from opioid-related overdoses last year. Another 24 were killed by other substances.

Washtenaw Health spokesperson Susan Ringler-Cerniglia says many of the opioids people are overdosing on have been mixed with other substances.

“85% of them involved fentanyl, and over half involved some other substance, as well as the opioid."

Ringler-Cerniglia says the number of overdose-related deaths has not been this high in Washtenaw since 2018.

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Taylor Pinson is a former WEMU news reporter and engineer.
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