Crime & Safety
Report: 75 Drug Overdoses in RI in 2014
State health officials are trying to combat the problem by making an overdose antidote more widely available.
There have been 75 drug overdoses in the state so far in 2014, according to the Providence Journal.
Authorities said the number is unusually high and blamed more than half the deaths on a lethal combination of heroin and fentanyl.
Reducing overdoses is now a "top priority" for law enforcement, according to the Journal. State health officials are making Narcan, a drug that can prevent an overdose, more available to first responders, the Associated Press reported.
The heroin problem is not specific to Rhode Island—New Hampshire officials said in 2013 there were double the number of heroin overdoses than the year before.
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