Something is changing the numbers on overdose deaths in Ohio and across the country — and the change is a welcomed one. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention preliminary data, the Buckeye State in 2023 experienced its first significant decrease in overdose deaths since 2017.

Dennis Cauchon, founder and president of Harm Reduction Ohio, told The Statehouse News Bureau he’d been watching the data and by early 2024 realized these were more than just incremental changes.

“When I realized it wasn’t a quirk, it made me cry, because every one of these deaths is a story with children and loved ones,” Cauchon told The Statehouse News Bureau. “They’re all stories to me. They’re not just numbers.”

Ohio is not alone, with CDC numbers showing a more than 10% year-over-year drop from April 2023 to April 2024.

It is wonderful news. But to what do we attribute this success? While the availability of naloxone and other addiction disorder medications may have something to do with it, Cauchon suggests it could be because of the U.S. Department of Justice’s effort to pursue the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel and slow the stream of fentanyl in drugs coming across the border.

To his credit, Cauchon told The Statehouse News Bureau, “I would like it to be what we’re doing with naloxone. Ohio’s doing a lot of good things to reduce overdose deaths, but it’s important to remember this is not an incremental change so attributing it to incremental things that we’re doing doesn’t make sense.”

Being realistic as we assess what is saving lives in Ohio is essential. But for ALL those working to reduce the number of overdose deaths here and across the country, these numbers are a victory. We can’t let off the gas in the multi-faceted effort to stop this monster’s killing spree.