Ventura County reports overall decrease in drug overdose deaths in 2019

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - According to a report from Ventura County, of the total number of deaths reported in 2019, 149 were deemed to have resulted from drug overdoses.

The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office said that a total of 1,651 deaths were reported during the calendar year 2019. Of those deaths, 826 required further investigation and certification.

Postmortem examinations were performed on 585 of the individuals and, of those cases, 149 were determined to have been caused by medications, alcohol and or illicit drugs.

Of the 149 deaths, the coroner determined 128 were accidents, 17 were suicides and four were undetermined. Of the overdose deaths, men accounted for 107 deaths (71.8%) and women accounted for 42 deaths (28.2%).

These investigations and analyses were illustrated in multiple charts created by the county. County officials compared these charts to data from previous years to determine if drug deaths have overall decreased or increased locally.

The County explained multiple drugs or medications may be involved in one case, causing the same case to be represented multiple times by different drugs or drug categories in their charts.

Deaths by city are based on the location of death which may not be the same location as where the overdose occurred.

In their investigations, the County noted multiple trends including the drop in drug overdose deaths by 21 since 2018 and that drug deaths decreased in all categories except for those involving ethanol.

The highest number of overdose deaths in 2019 were between ages 51 and 60 years (45 deaths) and the majority of these deaths involved methamphetamine (25 deaths).

For more information on health and crime in Ventura County, visit www.venturacountyrecovers.org.