(La Porte County, IN) - The number of drug overdose deaths in La Porte County could top last year’s record. La Porte County Coroner Lynn Swanson says there have been 12 confirmed overdose deaths this year.

 

Since January 1, another seven more deaths are suspected to be from drug overdoses. Swanson said there were 56 overdose deaths in La Porte County last year.

 

Swanson said most of the fatal drug-related cases last year and, so far, this year are from Michigan City.

 

More alarming, perhaps, is some people might not know they’re ingesting deadly poisons when using drugs like marijuana. Swanson said some of the marijuana sold on the streets is laced with fentanyl, a drug that appears in almost every fatal overdose locally.

 

“They’re cutting it into everything. They’re cutting it into pills. They’re cutting it into marijuana. It’s going in methamphetamines,” Swanson said.

The state considers every overdose death an accident even though users of especially deadly narcotics know about the risks involved.