Ohio residents, in particular, are more likely to die from opioid overdoses than their counterparts in other parts of the country.
According to data from the National Toxicology Program (NTP), Ohio residents in 2015 had the highest rate of opioid overdose death per 100,000 residents.
This was more than twice the rate of those living in neighboring Indiana and Wisconsin, according to the study.
According the report, this disparity in opioid overdose fatalities can be explained by several factors.
Ohioans have an average age of 64.9, the report found, compared to an average of 56.4 in Indiana and 49.8 in Wisconsin.
Ohio is also home to more than a third of the nation’s heroin and opioid overdoses, according the report.
Ohio residents have a higher rate of use and prescription opioid use, with nearly 30 percent of those surveyed stating they had used or were using prescription opioids, according.
The data also found that more than 40 percent of Ohioans over the age of 18 had used prescription opioids within the previous month, compared with 23 percent of the population of the state.
The rate of abuse of prescription opioids was higher in Ohio than in most states in the Midwest, including Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
The report found that while Ohioans are at risk for opioid overdoses from other states, Ohioans were more likely than the general population to be exposed to the deadly substance.
The data shows that opioid-related deaths were particularly high among women and people of color, according Toobin.
“It’s a troubling situation and we’ve got to do something,” said Toobin, who was one of the authors of the report when it was written.
“We’re the ones at risk, but we also need to get people out of that situation.”
Ohio’s opioid overdose crisis was initially triggered by the opioid epidemic, but it quickly spread to other states and to the nation.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has estimated that the number of Ohio overdose deaths has increased by nearly 3,000 per day since the beginning of 2016.
Toobin said he hopes the data will encourage other states to consider measures to combat opioid addiction.
“We have to look at ways to prevent opioid use and overdose, and we have to stop encouraging it,” Toobin said.