HEROIN ARRESTS
The number of heroin related arrests by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office has dropped the past two years after a record high in 2012.
2005: 19
2006: 24
2007: 25
2008: 52
2009: 117
2010: 96
2011: 137
2012: 233
2013: 149
2014: 142
SOURCE: Butler County Sheriff’s Office
For the first time in the last 35 years — since these statistics were kept — natural deaths were not the leading cause of death among cases investigated by the Butler County Coroner’s Office, according to data released Friday by the coroner.
Drug overdoses overtook natural causes as the No. 1 cause of death in the 400 cases accepted by the coroner’s office in 2014, said Dr. Lisa Mannix, Butler County coroner. She said there were 137 drug overdoses in the county in 2014, one more death than natural cause deaths. Of those drug deaths, 103, or 75 percent, were caused by heroin use, she said. The year before, the county reported 118 drug deaths and 60 of them, or 51 percent, were heroin related, Mannix said.
Butler County also saw 46 suicides, 22 motor vehicle traffic fatalities, 33 other fatal accidents, 16 undetermined deaths and 10 homicides last year, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Warren County reported a slight drop in the number of heroin-related deaths last year compared to 2013. In Warren County, there were 42 drug deaths investigated by the coroner’s office and 14 of them, or 33 percent, were heroin overdoses. But A. Doyle Burke, chief investigator, said seven more potential heroin deaths are pending. There were 16 heroin overdoses in Warren in 2013 and 11 in 2012, according to statistics from the county.
In response to what has been called “a heroin epidemic” in Butler County, three heroin summits have been scheduled at Atrium Medical Center in Middletown and the second of those is Monday. The first summit attracted about 40 people, representing a cross section of the community.
Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins said heroin killed 49 people in the city last year and strained the city’s public safety budget. He said Middletown spent $1.5 million in 2014 dealing with the affects of heroin.
The initial summit was the first of “many steps” to define the problem, look at root causes, and discuss what options should be explored in education, intervention, treatment, and recovery, he said.
Adkins was told that some people have said there is no way to control heroin’s grip on the city. Adkins said Middletown must try to reverse the recent trend.
“There is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by trying to deal with the problem proactively,” he said. “Even partial success saves lives, reduces crime and reduces taxpayer expenses.”
DeAnna Shores, from the Safety Council of Southwest Ohio, added: “I know that it may feel like too big of an issue to wrap our arms around, but if we can get people to start small with prevention in their homes, businesses, churches and schools, then every meeting mattered.”
The city spent $1.3 million in 2014 for the police department, Adkins said, including patrols, special operations by the narcotics unit and jail corrections; $167,000 by the fire department; and more than over $18,000 for indigent burials of drug overdose deaths.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser has estimated that 85 percent of the cases he sees are related to drugs, and Middletown Municipal Court Judge Mark Wall said about 50 percent of court cases are connected to heroin, either because the person used the drug or stole to support their drug habit.
Jackie Phillips, Middletown health director, said the key to reducing heroin addiction, or any health risk, is education and the earlier it starts the better.
“We have a lot of passion, we have a lot of resources, we have a lot of love for our city and its residents and that we will not stop until everyone is as healthy as they can possibly be,” she said.
In response to the community’s need, one Middletown church is hosting a “Power Lunch” every Wednesday, starting March 4, in hopes of reducing the stronghold heroin has on the city, said Lamar Ferrell, pastor of Berachah Church.
He said the the “Power Lunch” (Launching Unified Neighborhood Community Healing) will be a time for area residents to pray for those impacted by what has been called a heroin epidemic in Middletown and throughout Butler County.
The lunches will be held at noon every Wednesday at the former Verity School property, 1900 Johns Road. Berachah recently purchased the school and the property for $293,000 from the Middletown City Schools District. He said the lunches will be held indefinitely.
“We want to see a marked difference within one year,” Ferrell said.
Every week, he said, a different Middletown neighborhood will be highlighted, and clergy from that area will be asked to lead the prayer. He said the events will last about 15 minutes.
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