Fatal drug overdoses are on a downward trend locally and in Ohio, which local health departments are attributing to increased access to harm reduction resources, like Narcan.Area counties are also seeing concerning trends with o pioids being laced with other illicit drugs, creating other health risks for people using these substances.Butler County has steadily been observing a decrease in unintentional fatal drug overdose cases over the last couple of years, said Jordan Meyer, senior epidemiologist in the harm reduction program at the Butler County General Health DistrictIn Butler County, there were 184 overdose deaths in 2022, 130 deaths in 2023 and 88 deaths in 2024, according to the Butler County General Health District.This trend has continued in 2025 with there being 79 suspected overdose deaths as of Dec. 1, according to Meyer.In Montgomery County, there have been 143 overdose deaths to date in 2025, which is a 12.3% decline compared to the same time period in 2024, according to the Montgomery County Community Overdose Action Team.Statewide, the monthly rate of nonfatal overdose emergency department visits dropped from 62.7 cases per 100,000 people in August 2023 to 41.1 cases per 100,000 people in August 2025, the most recent month for which data is available, according to the Healthy Policy Institute of Ohio.Nationally, there were 72,697 unintentional overdose deaths in 2024, which is a drop of about 25.2% compared to the 97,231 deaths reported in 2023, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control.Opioids mixed with cocaine, meth creating concerning trendsArea counties are seeing a trend where different drugs, like methamphetamine, are mixed in with opioids, said Dan Suffoletto, public information manager for Public Health - Dayton Montgomery County. The combination is creating additional risks for people struggling with substance use disorder.Were seeing a rise in overdose deaths where theres no fentanyl present, so that would be deaths where theres either cocaine or methamphetamine present but not necessarily fentanyl, Suffoletto said.One concerning trend is overdose deaths of older Black males. Suffoletto explained that Black adults, particularly men, have a higher risk of heart disease.Those overdose deaths in the older Black males are also seeing a pattern of people who have a pre-existing condition of heart disease, and that condition makes an overdose even more dangerous, Suffoletto said.Among people aged 20 and older in the U.S., nearly 60% of Black adults have some type of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association, compared to about 49% of all U.S. adults who have some type of cardiovascular disease.We want to make people aware again of the dangers of using street drugs, Suffoletto said.In 2022, nearly half of drug overdose deaths involved multiple drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control.Increased access to NarcanPublic health experts attribute the decreasing overdose deaths to increased access to Narcan, also called naloxone, which is a medication that reverse an opioid overdose and help restore breathing.From the perspective of our department, this steady decrease is due to a large multitude of efforts in prevention, harm reduction and treatment, Meyer said.For harm reduction specifically, the Butler County General Health District has observed more people requesting to take multiple naloxone kits from the Syringe Service Program so they can keep Narcan in multiple locations within their house, vehicle and with friends, Meyer said.The health district has also worked to install naloxone access cabinets and Narcan vending machines, also called Barney boxes, throughout the county, increasing peoples access to naloxone.More naloxone trainings have also been conducted, which has decreased the potential stigma associated with the medication and resulted in more people carrying it should they ever encounter an emergency situation where it is needed, Meyer said.Narcan is also available over-the-counter for a fee at pharmacies.Overall, we have worked to saturate Butler County with naloxone by working to ensure it is available all throughout the county and more individuals are now educated and equipped to reverse an overdose event should they encounter someone in need, Meyer said.Project DAWNIn Ohio, the Ohio Department of Healths Project DAWN (deaths avoided with naloxone) is a community-based drug overdose education and naloxone distribution program.Visit naloxone.ohio.gov/get-naloxone/individual to get naloxone mailed to you.The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO.com. ...read more read less