A new report that tracks mortality and morbidity in Guilford County shows a rise in opioid deaths.
Last week, the 2022 State of the County's Health report was presented to the Board of Commissioners. According to the document, synthetic opioid poisoning deaths increased from 18 in 2014, to 113 in 2020.
The number of opiate poisoning deaths increased from 42 to 136 in that timeframe.
Guilford County Solution to the Opioid Problem, or GCSTOP, is a collaborative county initiative to stem drug abuse. The program tracked 656 community overdose reversals last year.
Commissioner James Upchurch says the numbers presented were alarming but the use of Narcan may have helped.
"It's my personal opinion, and having worked with those at GCSTOP, that our number would be significantly higher if not for Narcan and those other measures," Upchurch says.
According to the report, the two leading causes of death in Guilford County in 2020 were cancer and heart disease, with COVID-19 coming in third.