Here are four key statistics:
1. Last year, at least 1,600 people died in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., from opioids or heroin overdoses. WTOP reports this number is preliminary as researchers still have to publish the last several months of 2016’s numbers.
2. In Virginia, officials estimate more than 1,000 state residents died from opioid-related causes by the end of 2016. This figure is a 77 percent increase from five years ago. This alarming statistic caused the Virginia Health Commissioner to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency in November 2016.
3. Compared to the first nine months of 2015, the number of heroin-related deaths increased 70 percent in Maryland compared to the same period in 2016.
4. There were 500 heroin-related fatalities from January 2016 to September 2016 in Baltimore and the Baltimore area.
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