“It affects everyone, everywhere, at some level,” said Chief County Detective David Lloyd.

Despite a decline in Greene County’s opioid overdoses in 2018, statistics kept by the Greene County Coroner’s Office show the 2018 total has already been surpassed this year. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Health released estimated statistics for accidental and undetermined drug and opioid overdoses in the state for 2017 and 2018 back in March of this year. According to their data, Greene County suffered 12 overdoses in 2017, all of which were caused by opioids. 8 deaths due to the same causes occurred in the county during 2018. Chief Deputy Coroner, Martin Yoskovich, has confirmed 10 opioid overdoses from January to August of 2019.

“The theory last year of why it was down was that the opioid addicts were becoming afraid of it, and they’re going to methamphetamines,” Yoskovich said. “Well, that got blown out of the water this year because it’s right back up.”

Multiple factors have influenced this trend, said Lloyd.

“There’s a potential where somebody went through a treatment, came out and relapsed,” he said. “Unfortunately, the person believes he can handle the same amount of substance they did when they went in, but now their body has been clean. That could be an accidental overdose that way. Or they could have gotten something dirty.” 

Fentanyl and Carfentanyl, both synthetic opioid pain-killers, are known to sometimes be laced into drugs, explained Lloyd. Because of how powerful both synthetics are compared to other drugs, users can intake more than what they can handle unknowingly, potentially causing death. Yoskovich said 0.1 nanograms of Fentanyl in a milliliter is the average human limit. 

“They can have that misfortune, where they aren’t dealing with dealers who are mindful or worried about their well-being,” Lloyd said. “They are just worried about getting that money.”

Greene County, along with the entire state, has pulled money and resources to educate and create awareness about the issue, said Lloyd. Melissa Kirk, former drug and alcohol director, said the county has deployed multiple events and partnered with many organizations, such as Meals on Wheels, to hopefully make the danger of opioids better known. 

Narcan, a Naloxone brand that aids in reversing opioid overdoses, is one tool the county is employing.

“We have trained more individuals. This year, we worked with the VFW here locally in Waynesburg and got some individuals. I believe it was about 10-13 individuals trained because there is a training process in order to carry the Narcan,” Kirk said. “We have had conversations with the Waynesburg Police Department. In past years, they have not carried Narcan. Their officers are going through the education process so that they are able to carry the Narcan which is a big win, I guess you could say, for the county.” 

Pennsylvania’s accidental and undetermined overdose statistics have mirrored Greene County’s pattern from 2017 to 2018. The state saw 5,377 overdoses in 2017 and 4,413 overdoses in 2018. 

State overdose statistics for 2019 have not been released as of yet. Yoskovich said the state requires the coroner’s office to release 2019 overdose numbers and information for the county by Jan. 31, 2020. The deputy coroner said, however, that statistics and information for the county up until August will be published in the Prothonotary Office in the Greene County Courthouse within a couple of weeks.