COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has had a nearly 10% decrease in accidental overdose deaths, but a victim's closest friend says much more needs to be done to save lives.
It has been a year since, and not a day goes by that Brevin Bryant doesn't think about his best friend, Caley Koppler.
"If there was one thing I could say to her — it's 'I miss you,'" Bryant said.
She is one of the nearly 3,500 fentanyl-related deaths Ohio saw in 2023, with the drug making up 78% of the year's overdoses.
Deputies with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to News 5 that they are still investigating Koppler’s death.
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"What is being done about this?" Bryant asked me.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine tried to answer that question Wednesday. He announced that the state is making progress in combating unintentional drug overdoses.
There was a 9% decrease in deaths in 2023 compared to 2022, according to a new state report.
"There is still much, much work to do," DeWine said. "But I do want to let Ohioans know that we are seeing some progress."
He credited the success to naloxone or Narcan, expansion in access to treatment and cracking down on drug trafficking.
"Last year alone, the Ohio Department of Health confirmed more than 20,000 overdoses were reversed with naloxone obtained through our administration's Project Dawn,'" the governor continued.
Narcan is a great start, Bryant said, but it isn’t going to help someone who is using it by themselves, so the government needs to think bigger.
"Depression, anxiety, the price of housing, food, gas — all these things are adding up," Bryant said. "There's so much stress for people and some people don't know how to handle it."
I asked what is being done to stop substance abuse before it starts, other than law enforcement intercepting the drugs or locking up dealers.
"We also are helping to spread evidence-based prevention curricula in more schools across the state," said LeeAnne Cornyn with the Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services.
DeWine explained that there is a "holistic" approach to helping people.
I asked how many people were in active addiction in 2023 compared to 2022, and they are checking to see if they have hard data or estimates on it. In the meantime, the governor's team linked us to a national report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
For 2021-2022, there are likely 1,095,000 Ohioans ages 12 and older with a drug use disorder, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported. "Drug use," however, includes marijuana products.
Specifically for opioid use, there were likely 253,000 Ohioans ages 12 and older with a disorder from 2021-2022, the report continues.
Bryant hopes that the state will continue to work to save lives so that people like Koppler can get the help they need.
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