Meth Overdoses On The Rise In Oklahoma

<p>The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) released a report showing the number of drug overdoses due to methamphetamines skyrocketed from 2014 to 2015.</p>

Thursday, January 5th 2017, 2:45 pm

By: Karl Torp

New numbers from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) reveals meth related overdoses is skyrocketing.

There were 271 meth related overdose deaths in Oklahoma in 2015. In 2014, that number was 192.

OBN says the number of users has increased because there are more users and because the drug isn’t hard to get or expensive to buy.

“So much is pouring across the Mexican border that there is a large supply,” said OBN’s Mark Woodward.

Woodward says meth is attractive to users because the length and intensity of the “high” is greater than many other drugs.

For metro treatment centers the addiction means a revolving door.

“I would expect to see a decrease with the meth labs going away, but what we’ve seen is an increase,” said The Recovery Center’s Clinical Director, David Patterson

The number of overall drug overdoses in Oklahoma in 2015 was 862. That number has been over 800 since 2010.