× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Heroin overdose deaths were up significantly in Madison in 2018 compared to 2017, with most of the overdoses happening to white males.

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval, in his daily blog on Monday, looked at heroin overdoses in the city, saying while the number of overdoses in December was the lowest of any month in 2018, both the number of overdoses and the number of deaths were up for the year.

"In 2018, we lost 42 community members to suspected heroin overdose deaths," Koval said. "This is a 23 percent increase from 2017, when we had 34 heroin overdose-related deaths."

Demographics show the heroin overdose deaths in 2018 in Madison were 64 percent male, 93 percent white, 36 percent female and 3 percent black.

The number of known overdoses in 2018 was 6 percent higher than 2017, with 275 cases this year compared to 259 cases last year.

The demographics of heroin overdoses was pretty close to the same for deaths, with 68 percent male, 32 percent female, 79 percent white, 17 percent black and 3 percent Hispanic or Native American.

In December, police investigated 10 known overdoses, down 69 percent from December of 2017 when 33 known overdoses were investigated.

"MPD officers referred two community members to the Madison Addiction Recovery Initiative program in December," Koval said. "Since the beginning of MARI, 24 community members have completed the program, with several more on schedule to complete this month."

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.