Drug Overdose Concerns in Macomb County

Macomb County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz says he has seen a steady increase in the number of drug abuse cases in just the past three or four months. He adds that it is almost a weekly occurrence.

"Heroin deaths routinely fluctuate, but over the last three (or) four months, they've certainly increased," said Spitz.

Use of heroin and prescription drugs is on the rise in Macomb County. Just Monday morning, Spitz did an autopsy on a woman that is believed to have overdosed on prescription drugs.

"Reckless behavior, some outright suicides," Spitz said. "The situation in Macomb County is difficult for a lot of people, and that often prompts some reckless behavior, and reckless behavior involves taking too much medication or mixing medications."

In the New Baltimore area alone there have been 15 cases of drug overdoses. Two of those were fatal. A 23-year-old female lost her life just three weeks ago.

"Go beyond just watching out for adolescents," said New Baltimore Police Chief Tim Wiley. "Late teen years, early years of college, those are very critical years, as well, because they're trying a lot of different things (and) meeting a lot of different people."

New Baltimore's police chief is taking a bite out of the problem with a new drug dog. He is also offering parents the option of using a drug test kit.

"(A) parent could come in and take one of these test kits home. They could do a test with their family member. They'll know. They don't have to communicate that information to us, but, of course, we would provide some follow up resources for them if needed," Wiley said.

"It's hard to make a whole lot of sense of it because we're still in a relatively short period of time, but I think that they'll probably continue to increase," said Spitz.

The medical examiner also says if you or a family member needs help to seek it right away.