Accidental drug overdoses through the first quarter of 2023 are higher than they were at this point last year.

That’s according to a report sent out Friday by the Howard County Coroner’s Office.

In the report, Howard County Coroner Steve Seele stated that the total number of drug overdoses during the first three months of 2023 stood at 11, which was five more than the first quarter of 2022.

Of those 11 confirmed overdoses, Seele noted that 10 involved fentanyl; five involved cocaine; two involved methamphetamine; one involved other miscellaneous substances; and one involved xylazine.

Xylazine, per the report, is a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use, and it’s commonly referred to as “Tranq.”

“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug in our country, fentanyl, even deadlier,’” Seele wrote in the report, citing a public safety alert issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “In 2022, approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine. They have seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of the 50 states.”

Seele went on to note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated over 107,000 Americans died from drug poisonings between August 2021 and August 2022, with 66% of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

“The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico are using chemicals largely sourced from China to produce most of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States,” Seele said, adding that the coroner’s office has investigated seven deaths linked to xylazine since 2019.

Along with the accidental overdoses, the coroner’s office also investigated seven fall-related deaths; seven deaths by suicide; two weather-related deaths; and one homicide, per the report.

One death is currently under investigation.

Of the 61 cases investigated, Seele noted that there were also 29 autopsies conducted, 31 toxicology reports and one X-ray study, for a total cost of $51,268.

Officials note that the toxicology testing is presently being paid for by a grant through the Indiana State Department of Health, and autopsies ordered by the coroner are conducted by a board-certified forensic pathologist.
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