The total number of drug overdoses in Chillicothe has "dropped in half" compared to this time last year. Mayor Luke Feeney made that comment in the iHeart Media "Communique", which airs the morning of November 19th.
Feeney says some of the reasons for improvement have been the police department's crack-down on major drug dealers, which has helped limit the amount of the deadly fentanyl mixture being found in heroin. The mayor also acknowledged the more than 100 people being taken to drug treatment out of our community this year as another reason for the drop.
Feeney says the number of "overdose deaths" is also down, although he didn't detail how big of a drop had been seen compared to the overall "overdose rate".
Mayor Feeney stopped short of "declaring total victory", saying he wants to see a longer pattern of this type of improvement in Chillicothe's battle to stop drug deaths.
To hear Mayor Luke Feeney's comments on this and other city related issues, go to our podcast link found below. The Communique interview will be broadcast on WKKJ, WBEX, WQLX and WCHI November 19th.