Drug Fatalities Up 22 Percent in Lansing Area

It has been going on for a long time, the fight of addiction and drugs  I think we all know someone that may have had a drug problem. Maybe we have ourselves. Personally I have had a few family members and friends that have had problems with drugs. It happens. All we can do is help and give them our support. These days with the pandemic it seems to be happening more and more. Folks looking to escape from this crazy world. The good news is there are many ways to get help.

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The not good news is that drug related deaths in the Lansing area has jumped 22 percent this year. Many of the deaths were from fentanyl, says Sparrow Hospital.

According to fox47news.com Sparrow reported 180 deaths in Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella and Shiawassee counties. Some of these fatalities were due to opioids. This is up 30 percent from last year. Fentanyl deaths were up by 47%.

We do add fentanyl to the drug class, even though it’s an opioid. We do that to show the large increase in fentanyl deaths,” said said Michelle Fox, supervisor of Forensic Pathology at Sparrow HealtIngham County is our larger number and it’s the most populated, so we’ll see a higher number there,” Fox said.

They did say that deaths from cocaine and heroin were down from last year. As I said, there is a lot of help available to those that want it. Many of them offer free treatment and counseling. One is from The Michigan Department Of Health and Human Services.