CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the first time in decades, cocaine is killing more people in Cuyahoga County than opioids – including fentanyl – and the drug is going to require a different type of treatment and prevention strategy to combat it. But what could that look like?
Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson started to notice a shift in overdose deaths early last year. As opioid overdoses continued to fall, cocaine-related deaths were rising, accounting for 63% of cases, compared with 46% involving opioids, including some overlap from drug mixtures. At the time, he predicted cocaine would kill 399 Cuyahogans by the end of the year.
During recent budget talks before County Council, Gilson noted cocaine deaths will drop slightly as toxicology screenings are completed, but the drug still remains the top killer. Its victims: primarily older Black residents, echoing patterns from the 1980s and 1990s crack-cocaine crisis…