Vermont’s top public safety official says more people died in the state last year from overdoses of prescription opiate drugs and heroin than in car crashes and murders combined.
Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn made the comments to the Burlington Free Press Wednesday at the Statehouse in Montpelier.
Flynn says 99 people died from prescription opiate and heroin overdoses. Fifty-five-people were killed in car accidents. The number of murders last year is small, although the official statistics have not been released.
Flynn says the 99 drug deaths underline the need for the state to become more aggressive in investigating prescription drug abuse in the state.