Eight more people died in 2018 than the previous year from heroin overdoses in the city of Madison.
According to numbers released by Madison Police Chief Mike Koval in his blog, 42 people died from heroin overdose in 2018 compared to 34 the year before, and increase of 23 percent.
The total number of heroin overdoses rose six percent in 2018 when compared to the year prior. In 2017, 259 people overdosed on heroin, that number in 2018 was 275.
Comparing only the months of December tells a better story.
Thirty-three people overdosed on heroin in December of 2017, while 10 overdosed in December of 2018: a 69 percent decrease. December also saw the lowest number of deaths in all of 2018, according to the police chief.
Koval also broke down 2018 overdose demographics. Sixty-eight percent of all overdoses were male, 32 percent were female. Seventy-nine percent were white, 17 percent African-American and three percent Hispanic/Native American.
Sixty-four percent of the deceased were men, 36 percent women. Ninety-three percent were white and three percent were African-American.
Chief Koval said two people were referred by officers to the Madison Addiction Recovery Initiative in December. Since MARI’s inception in September of 2016, 24 people have completed the program and several more are scheduled to complete it this month.
For more go to WKOW: https://wkow.com/news/top-stories/2019/01/07/madison-heroin-overdoses-climb-in-2018-police-chief-says/