'We know we have a problem' Erie County has the highest reported overdose rate in PA.

Erie County is situated in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, but it's at the epicenter of the commonwealth's drug overdose epidemic.

Not only did Erie County record its second-most accidental drug deaths in 2023, but new statewide data also shows it had the highest rate of drug overdoses among Pennsylvania's 67 counties last year, with 184 accidental overdoses per capita.

Worse, it's the second consecutive year Erie County has held the top ranking, according to data compiled by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania from the state's Overdose Information Network.

"We know we have a problem," said Rick Lorah, deputy chief of the criminal division of the Erie Bureau of Police. "We're labeled as a high-intensity drug trafficking area (HIDTA) here in Erie County. We sit between Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. We know that there's a large amount of drugs that are trafficked through this area, and that's always been the case. That's why the federal government has given us funds and designated us a HIDTA. We work with our state, local and federal partners to obviously try to put a stop to this."

Overdose reporting: New law exposes extent of Pa.'s drug overdose problem, but issues still remain

Fentanyl, other drugs driving overdoses

Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid approved by the FDA for pain relief, continues to drive the high number of overdoses and accidental drug deaths. Other illicit recreational drugs like cocaine are being laced with fentanyl.

"If you buy drugs on the street, you're going to die," Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said. "I'm telling you the truth. I see it every day. Nobody wants to hear that."

About 90% of Erie County's 121 drug-related deaths in 2023 were attributable to fentanyl, Cook said. Only 2017 saw more drug-related deaths in the county.

"You hate to say it, but 10, 15 years ago, you could be a recreational cocaine user and not worry about that," Lorah said. "I'm not saying that recreational cocaine use doesn't lead to other things. Obviously, I don't think anyone should be doing cocaine. It's a highly addictive drug. But now you're taking that chance every single time that it's going to be cut with too much fentanyl. Every time you buy it, it's Russian roulette. You're taking that chance."

Much of the fentanyl coming into the Erie community originated in Mexico via drug cartels, Lorah said. Last June, 58 people were indicted on federal drug charges tied to a trafficking operation that began in 2012 and the major dealers arrested had obtained fentanyl and methamphetamine from suppliers whose own sources were located in parts of Mexico.

Twice last year, the Erie County District Attorney's Office issued alerts about an uptick in fentanyl in the community. In April 2023, fentanyl was being found in counterfeit pills that resembled prescription oxycodone and Percocet. In September, there was a spike in fentanyl being mixed with the sedative xylazine, a prescription drug approved by the FDA for veterinary use only.

Better reporting, more overdoses or both?

Act 158 of 2022, the Overdose Mapping Act, which took effect Jan. 1, 2023, for the first time required Pennsylvania law enforcement officers to report to the Overdose Information Network report any encounter they had with someone suspected of overdosing on drugs, including instances when the overdose-reversal drug naloxone was administered.

In 2023, 59 people for every 100,000 overdosed on drugs in Pennsylvania, according to ODIN, which is operated by Pennsylvania State Police. Before the new law took effect, the state's rate was 36 overdoses per 100,000 people.

Erie County's rate went from 162 overdoses per 100,000 people to 184.

That's especially telling because Erie County's ranking remained unchanged despite the new law.

David Basnak, the executive director of the Erie-based private ambulance company EmergyCare, said he isn't surprised by the county's high overdose rate.

"I've seen the opioid epidemic that we have in this community, and it has just run rampant," he said. "When you look at some of the socioeconomic barriers that we have in our community here locally, some of the at-risk people that we have — now, don't get me wrong, opioid addiction does not discriminate — but we do know that there are populations that have a higher risk for abuse of it. And we have that here in our community."

Not only was Erie County's overdose rate triple that of the state's in 2023, but it was significantly higher than the drug overdose rate in the next-highest county. The 184 drug overdoses per 100,000 people in Erie County last year was 25% higher than Montgomery County, which ranked second with 142 overdoses per capita.

Erie's overdose reporting practices 'robust'

Lorah and Basnak were only surprised that Erie ranked ahead of the state's other high-intensity drug trafficking areas, namely the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas.

"My first reaction (to the ODIN data) is that we're probably one of the only counties in Pennsylvania whose police departments are doing it correctly," he said.

The Erie Bureau of Police, which reported 369 overdoses in the city in 2023, had for many years tracked drug overdoses internally, so when ODIN was created and when laws were changed to mandate reporting, "We really didn't miss a beat," Lorah said.

Jerry Daley, the executive director of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area in Philadelphia, said Erie does indeed have a "robust" adherence to reporting overdoses, whereas Philadelphia continues to underreport due to IT issues.

In addition to the state police and Erie Bureau of Police, 11 other Erie County police agencies reported an overdose to ODIN in 2023: Corry, Edinboro, Girard, Lake City, Lawrence Park, Millcreek, North East, Union City, Wesleyville, as well as Edinboro University Police and the Erie School District Police.

Law improving overdose reporting across state

The new reporting requirement resulted in 740 law enforcement agencies reporting overdoses last year, up from 652 in 2022, according to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

New legislation, S.B. 1054, which passed the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously March 20, would require EMS providers to report overdose data to ODIN.

The Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania says overdose information is already provided in patient care reports, which are uploaded to the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, a division of the state Department of Health, and that state officials are working to transfer that data to ODIN in real time so that paramedics and EMTs won't be required to enter the same information into two different databases.

Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com or on X at @ETNRink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County's drug overdose statistics top PA rankings