CORONER'S REPORT REFLECTS DRUG USE INCREASE

LISBON - The number of drug-related deaths in Columbiana County increased
again in 2005, with Coroner Dr. William Graham saying this year's numbers
could keep the trend rising.

"It's sad this county's infested with drugs," the East Liverpool resident
said, adding it's "...sad to have my community noteworthy for the wrong
reason."

According to the just-released coroner's annual report for 2005, East
Liverpool accounted for 32 percent of the drug-related deaths in the
county, with Lisbon second at 21 percent and Salem coming in third with 16
percent. Columbiana was shown with 11 percent, with East Palestine,
Hanoverton, Salineville and Wellsville all shown with 5 percent.

In 2005, the coroner's office recorded 15 drug-related deaths which
included at least six suicides by drug overdose and two accidental drug
overdoses and numerous motor vehicle accidents.

Through June of this year, eight drug-related deaths were documented out of
45 total cases accepted by the coroner's office, for a total of 18 percent.
Graham said the number has continued to increase since June and

could equal the total number for 2005 or be worse. He pointed to two recent
incidents in East Liverpool where drugs may have been involved, including
the suspicious death of an infant and the murder of a 21-year-old girl last
week who was stabbed.

The report showed a graph which Graham said could be interpreted as a four
to five times increase in drug deaths in the past 10 years. In his first
year in office in 1989, he said only one drug-related death had occurred by
June of that year.

The statistics for 2005 showed 89 percent of the drug-related deaths were
Caucasians with the rest African Americans, three-fourths of the dead were
males, and nearly half of the dead were married.

Toxicology reports showed ethanol (alcohol) in 11 cases and cocaine in
seven cases, with opiates and cannabinoids (marijuana) also found.

Of the 21 accidental deaths in 2005, nine tested positive for drugs and/or
alcohol, with at least eight of those nine testing positive for alcohol and
five of the nine testing positive for cocaine.

The age range of those who died and tested positive for drugs and/or
alcohol went from 20 to 59, with 75 percent of the marijuana users in their
early 40's.

Graham also noted a high number of suicides in 2005, with 20 reported. In
2004, the number was 12. The majority of the deaths were married males,
with gunshot the number one method, followed by the six drug overdoses, two
carbon monoxide poisonings and one hanging.

Graham said the number of suicides and the ever-increasing number of drug
deaths could be put together with politics, alluding to the fact that his
office will likely run out of money before the year ends. He noted his
office was shorted and costs for forensic autopsies and drug analysis have
increased. If the number of drug deaths and suspicious deaths continue to
increase with the trend, it's going to cost his office more money.

What he found truly sad was the fact that drug dealers wouldn't have a
market for their drugs if there weren't buyers.

"You can play with them only so long before you die," he said.

The report showed 1,089 deaths in Columbiana County in 2005, with 377
reported to the coroner's office and 82 accepted by the coroner's office as
cases. Of the 82 deaths, 64 had toxicology tests done and 15 were
autopsied. The deaths included 38 by natural causes, 21 accidental, 20
suicide, two homicide and one pending investigation.

The age group with the most deaths was the range from 51 to 60 years old,
followed by the 61 to 70-year-old group and the 21 to 30-year-old group.

The accidental deaths included 10 motor vehicle accidents, three carbon
monoxide poisonings, two falls, two drug overdoses, a drowning, stress from
a house fire, a faulty electrical fan and a hunting accident.

The leading cause of the 38 natural deaths was myocardial infarction,
commonly known as heart failure, with 30 of them listed. The other deaths
included asphyxia, cardiomyopathy, thyrotoxicosis, SIDS or sudden infant
death syndrome, chronic ethanolism or alcoholism and Schmidt Disease, which
involves diabetes and a thyroid problem.