Tag: Heroin Overdose

West Virginia Researcher Says Drug Suicides Undercounted

A West Virginia University researcher says the official U.S. suicide rate, which rose 34 percent from 2000 to 2016, fails to include many people who kill themselves purposely with drugs.

Ian Rockett, professor of epidemiology in WVU’s School of Public Health, led an international study released Wednesday by PLOS ONE, a journal published by the Public Library of Science.

Rocket says there is “a serious problem of suicide undercounting in the United States.”

Their analysis says detecting suicides by drug intoxication depends on authenticated suicide notes and psychiatric histories, noting such evidence if often missing even in more apparent suicides by shooting and hanging.

Bill to Create Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities Passes in House

The West Virginia House of Delegates has passed a bill that will encourage the creation of substance abuse treatment facilities in the state.

While lawmakers have considered several bills this session aimed at punishing drug traffickers and dealers, House Bill 2428 is about recovery. The bill would establish a special fund to collect donations from the public and any appropriations the Legislature can offer in the future to open more substance abuse treatment facilities.

Democratic Delegate Phil Isner from Randolph County spoke in favor of the bill. He says he’s glad the body got to vote on a bill like this, this session.

“We’ve spent a lot of time this session passing bills that will punish the dealers; the people that are bringing the drugs into our state, and I’ve sponsored, cosponsored, and voted for several of those bills, but I am so encouraged that we are now trying to attack this problem from the other side,” Isner said, “and that is to deal with the users that have got caught up in this, and every one of us probably has a friend or a family member that’s been there.”

The new fund would be called the Ryan Brown Addiction Prevention and Recovery Fund, named after a young man from Kanawha County who died of heroin addiction.

House Bill 2428 passed 99 to 0 and now heads to the Senate.

LISTEN: What's It Like to Grow Up with a Parent Struggling with Addiction?

For a generation of Appalachians, growing up with a parent addicted or abusing drugs is a way of life. Kristina Weaver, or Breezie, grew up in southern West Virginia with a loving family and father who struggled with addiction. Her father, David Siers, died in June of 2015 of a heroin overdose.

Drug fatal overdoses are the leading cause of injury deaths in the US and Appalachian communities are among the worst hit by the epidemic. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that West Virginia has the highest rate of drug overdoses. The top five states also include two other Appalachian states, Kentucky and Ohio.

Kristina Weaver hopes that by sharing her story and the story of her relationship with her father, it might help someone else.

David served in the Army National Guard and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

You can listen to more about the opioid epidemic in the latest Inside Appalachia episode, called

Generation of Addiction Inside Appalachia.

Man Charged in 27 Huntington Overdoses Pleads Not Guilty

A trial date has been set for an Ohio man who has pleaded not guilty to heroin distribution in connection to 27 overdoses in a five-hour span in a single West Virginia city.

The Herald-Dispatch reports 22-year-old Bruce Lamar Griggs of Akron, Ohio, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to drug distribution charges following the Aug. 15 spate of overdoses in Huntington. At least one man died.

His trial in federal court is set for Nov. 29.

An affidavit filed in court alleges that one of the victims who survived identified Griggs as the dealer, and police corroborated it with other witnesses and video surveillance near where the overdoses occurred.

Griggs’ indictment revealed that investigators believe the heroin was mixed with the powerful painkiller fentanyl.

Louisville, Ky. Joins Huntington in Rash of Overdoses

Public health officials in Louisville are warning of a spike in heroin overdoses in the city.

According to WDRB-TV, officials at Norton Hospital say there were at least 24 confirmed overdose cases in Louisville on Tuesday.

Dr. Robert Couch, an emergency physician at Norton, said at a news conference that he saw eight overdose patients within five hours.

He calls it a “public health emergency,” saying the heroin on the street seems to be unusually potent. He says patients taking what would usually be a small amount are losing consciousness.

Couch says larger doses of naloxone, a widely available overdose antidote that many first responders carry, are needed to reverse the drug’s effect.

The announcement comes after recent overdose spikes in communities in the neighboring states of Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia.

Ohio Man Arrested in Connection with Huntington Overdoses

An Akron, Ohio man is in Federal Custody in connection with a rash of overdoses in Huntington earlier this month.

Twenty-two-year-old Bruce Lamar Griggs was arrested in Ohio and is being held on a federal criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of West Virginia. According to United States Attorney Carol Casto and Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli, Griggs is charged with distribution of heroin.

According to the affidavit filed by the Huntington Police Department, the investigation of Griggs began on August 15 when a rash of heroin overdoses took place around the Marcum Terrace housing projects in Huntington. That evening, emergency crews responded to 26 overdoses in a four-hour span. Two people reportedly died in connection with the same batch of heroin distributed in the city.

The affidavit filed by the police said one of the overdose victims identified the seller of the heroin as Griggs and others provided corroborating information linking the heroin to Griggs.

Surveillance video also shows a man matching Griggs’ description engaging in activity that looks like hand-to-hand drug distribution in the Marcum Terrace area before the overdoses. Griggs appeared before a judge in Ohio yesterday and will now be transported to West Virginia to face charges. 

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