Preliminary data found 2,114 opioid-related deaths in Maryland in 2018, a 5.2 percent increase from the year before. Though the annual death toll remains record-breaking — and more than four times higher than just nine years ago — the rate of increase is the slowest single-year jump since 2011, according to a first-of-its-kind state report released Thursday. Opioid-related deaths increased by 8.2 percent in 2017 and by 70.4 percent in 2016, the report said. Deaths attributed to heroin deaths dropped by 23.7 percent, a decline the report attributed in part to addicts replacing heroin with fentanyl. Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have the lowest rates of opioid-related deaths in the state, the report said, with 6.9 deaths per 100,000 residents.

Source: Washington Post May 09, 2019 21:50 UTC