The Erie County Opiate Epidemic Task Force laid out some bleak numbers for the past decade at its first meeting of the year.

In 2012, there were 103 opioid-related deaths in Erie County. A decade later, that number has only increased.

Last year, 177 people in Erie County died from opioid use, and that total doesn’t even include more than 100 pending cases. Of those 177 victims, nearly a third of them were in their 30s.

The drug fentanyl has become one of the main concerns in this epidemic. It was identified in 86% of the county’s overdose deaths, in comparison to heroin, which was identified in 7% of victims. 

“So it seems to be a trend increasing fentanyl and decreasing proportions where heroin is identified. But it really is fentanyl that is killing people," Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein said.

To help lower the opioid death toll, the task force trained 396 first responders last year to use naloxone. They also sent naloxone to more than 2,000 Western New Yorkers.

The task force continues to encourage everyone to learn about preventions and the resources in Western New York to help others, including the Text for Narcan hotline at 716-225-5473, free naloxone virtual training and the Never Use Alone hotline at (800) 484-3731.