The moving daily average of accidental drug overdoses tracked by Summit County Public Health leveled off this week at just under four people per day.
Between May 11 and May 17, 26 Summit County residents turned up at hospital emergency rooms after overdosing.
Most — 69.2 percent — were men. Overall, the average age of those who overdosed was just over 40.
Yet that snapshot doesn’t tell the whole story.
During that same time, 14 more residents turned up at emergency rooms going through drug withdrawal or detox.
And another seven were treated for intentionally overdosing, either because they were trying to kill themselves or had suicidal thoughts, the weekly public health report shows.
The local report doesn’t ferret out which drugs people were taking, but a new national report by the private lab testing company Quest Diagnostics backs up what local officials see: Methamphetamine, after declining a decade ago, is roaring back.
Quest Diagnostics –a huge national player workplace drug testing — revealed that between 2013 and 2017, its tests revealed a 167 percent spike in meth use among employees in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
At the same time, the testing revealed that American workforce is using fewer prescription opiates but employees continue to use drugs more now than at any time during the past decade.
To see Quest’s national interactive map of positive drugs tests in the workforce, go to http://www.dtidrugmap.com.
In Greater Akron, about 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent of the workforce tests come back positive for drugs, the map shows. But the true rate could be much higher, particularly among those seeking work.
This week, The Christian Science Monitor revealed 40-60 percent of job applicants in the Youngstown/Warren area are failing drug tests, according to a the regional chamber of commerce.
Employers drug test because of safety hazards and because Ohio businesses can get a discount on worker compensation premiums for maintaining drug-free workplaces, the paper reported.
That hits roofers, masons and other trades especially hard, the report said, because it’s particularly dangerous to operate heavy machinery when high.
State Rep. Tim Schaffer, R-Columbus, told the Christian Science Monitor he’s talked with HVAC contractors who could double the size of their businesses if they could find qualified people.
“They are just begging for people who want to make $50,000 to $60,000 per year with a brief training program,” he said in the report.
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