WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Officials say nearly 240 people fatally overdosed last year in Rhode Island and more than 90 percent of those involved opioids.
The Providence Journal reports Rhode Island’s heroin and prescription opioids overdose rate projects to 20.4 deaths per 100,000 people. The newspaper says about 215 people died over fatal opioid overdoses last year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control says the national average was 7.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013.
State health department data shows the state’s overdose deaths have grown by more than 70 percent during the last five years.
Rhode Island health officials didn’t respond to requests for comment Tuesday about why the state won’t provide community-specific data on the overdoses.
