Blair County Coroner Patricia Ross reported this week that her office investigated a record 70 drug overdose deaths in 2022, punctuated by the abuse of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and xylazine, a non-opioid sedative used by veterinarians in the treatment of animals.

“We are out of control. I think we are tremendously out of control,” said Ross as she talked about drug abuse and what it is doing to the population.

Drug dealers are mixing fentanyl and xylazine with the more common drugs of abuse like heroin, cocaine and other opioids in an effort to spike and extend the “highs” that users experience.

But, Ross warned, these drugs are so powerful that many of those suffering overdoses die immediately.

She displayed a photograph of one victim who ingested a drug tainted with xylazine.

He was sitting at a table when taking his drug of choice and he immediately fell to the floor, his elbows and legs bent as if he were still sitting at the table.

Ross, a registered nurse who has also been serving in the coroner’s office for the past 30 years — and who has been the county’s elected coroner since 1999 — pointed out in her first year in office, she investigated six overdose deaths.

But over the years, the number of overdose deaths has steadily increased.

In 2018, the number stood at 28, but in the past three years — with the introduction of fentanyl into the illegal drug market — the number of deaths has risen dramatically.

In 2020, the number was 56 and then ticked up to 57 in 2021.

Coroners throughout the state in 2020 and 2021 began to see xylazine, described in recent articles as a sedative used in the treatment of horses and cows, as contributing to the multitude of drug deaths throughout Pennsylvania.

Ross said state medical officials sent out a memorandum last year stating that xylazine was not for human consumption.

Recently Fox News and CNN have done stories about the dramatic rise in drug overdose deaths in the Philadelphia area, and with many of the illegal drugs coming into Blair County from the eastern part of the state, xylazine has made its presence felt locally.

Ross is required by law to investigate unexplained deaths that occur locally, and she is required to file reports on those deaths annually.

On Jan. 30, she filed her 2022 reports with the Blair County prothonotary. The reports showed 70 overdose deaths.

Fentanyl was a contributing factor in 40 of the deaths, xylazine was a factor in 11.

Most of the deaths involved several drugs, the reports show.

For instance, a 27-year-old died a year ago with both fentanyl and xylazine as contributing factors.

A 54-year-old male died after using a combination of fentanyl and cocaine.

Another 27-year-old died with fentanyl, methamphetamine, morphine, codeine and desmethylsertraline in his blood.

A 32-year-old male died due the ingestion of para-fluorofentanyl, a synthetic opioid sometimes called “China White,” and methamphetamine, according to Ross’s findings.

Ross also explained that drug overdoses remain a problem at the dawn of a new year.

As she was discussing last year’s findings, a call came of yet another suspected overdose.

That’s when she said that things are out of control.

Ross and her staff work closely with law enforcement.

Each death requires an autopsy, and Ross is very much in favor of helping police bring charges of drug death due to delivery against those who provide a fatal dose to friends or others who may be termed “small time drug dealers.”

She also favors very stiff penalties for those who deal drugs mixed with fentanyl or xylazine.

Her office provides police with the results of the autopsies, but, she noted, the county only budgets so much money for autopsies. She is worried she may exhaust that line in her budget by mid-year.

The coroner’s statistics reveal that 50 of the 70 overdose deaths were male.

Ross believes that women with drug addictions have more trouble hooking up with dealers, which is why the numbers show that drug deaths are overwhelmingly a male problem.

Many believe that drug abuse is a problem with young people, but the statistics show otherwise.

While Ross’s youngest drug death was an 18-year-old user and another 18-year-old used drugs to commit suicide, her reports show that a majority of local drug deaths (44) are men and women in their 30s, 40s and 50s.

Her reports reflect that there were no drug overdose deaths among juveniles, possibly due, she said, to efforts by area schools to address the drug issue.

Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks agreed with Ross’s assessment that “things are out of control.”

He explained that the autopsies help law enforcement put drug dealers behind bars.

He said Blair County judges in the past have rendered stiff sentences to major drug dealers but that trend has tapered off recently.

Weeks said there is room for treatment of drug offenders. For instance, treatment is appropriate for an 18-year-old who is before the court on a first offense, he said, but when it comes to dealers who have repeatedly been arrested and have a 20- to 30-year involvement in the drug trade, he favors very stiff sentences, and that hasn’t been happening recently.

Like Ross, Weeks believes tougher sentences for those with a history of drug abuse is an appropriate step toward curbing the rise in overdose deaths and violence associated with the drug trade.

Aside from drug death investigations, the coroner’s office was busy investigating many other incidents last year, including 24 suicide deaths, and 19 deaths in which alcohol was a factor.