ANN ARBOR, MI (MPRN)-- The State of Michigan has reported its first decline in overdose deaths in six years.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says overall overdose deaths declined by 3.2 percent in 2018. Opioid related fatal overdoses also declined.
The decline in opioid-related overdose deaths in 2018 was largely driven by decreases in the number of deaths due to poisoning by heroin and commonly prescribed drugs, including oxycodone and hydrocodone.
Overall overdose death rates among white Michiganders decreased by 6.5 percent. But the overdose fatality rate among African-American residents increased by nearly 15 percent.