Heroin file photo.jpg

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office on Friday released new projections on the number of opioid-related deaths in the county this year.

(File photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County saw its deadliest month ever for heroin and fentanyl-related overdose deaths with 60 confirmed fatal overdoses in February.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office released the new numbers on Friday.

February outpaced the county's previous all-time, one-month record, which occurred in September 2016 with 57 fatalities due to the drugs.

The medical examiner's office says at least 109 people have died in the first two months of 2017 from heroin, fentanyl, or a combination of the two. A total of 57 opioid-relatred deaths were confirmed during the same two months last year.

At this pace, opioid-related deaths could reach 650 for 2017.

The medical examiner's office has attributed more than 500 deaths to overdoses in 2016, with opioids causing the vast majority. A complete tally for 2016 has not been finalized.

And 2016's numbers more than doubled 2015's count of 228 deaths from heroin and related drugs.

"In my more than two decades in law enforcement, this is the worse law enforcement and public health crisis I have ever seen," said Carole Rendon, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge weighed in as well.

"Drug abuse is taking a devastating toll on our communities. We must do everything we can to stop it," Fudge said in a statement. "Talking is not enough."

During the first five days of February alone, heroin and fentanyl overdoses claimed roughly 24 lives in Cuyahoga County.

While the medical examiner's new report confirmed 60 fatal overdoses in all of February, seven additional cases are still pending toxicology results.

"I often feel like we're standing at the bottom of a mountain and the avalanche is coming down, but there's no clear way to stop it," Rendon said. "What we're doing is everything we can think of and then some, but it continues to get worse."

Of the approximately 60 people who died in February from heroin-related drugs, 36 were Cleveland residents, and 17 were from Cuyahoga County suburbs. An additional 7 were from other suburbs, the medical examiner's office reports.

Fentanyl-related deaths among African Americans is also on the rise -- 24 percent of the deaths in February, according to the medical examiner.

And the fentanyl-related deaths are not exclusively limited to heroin or opiate users.

February saw 35 cocaine-related deaths, with 26 of those cases being mixed with heroin, fentanyl or both, the report says.

"We all play a role in combating drug abuse and reversing the effects of these deadly substances in our communities," Fudge said.

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