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CLEVELAND - Sitting in the kitchen at their home in Bay Village, going through their photo album, Bill and Susan Ayars reminisce about their daughter. “I think the biggest thing about Jennifer, was her laugh,” Mr. Ayars said. But in high school, their daughter Jennifer Ayars’ life began to spiral. “It started before I even wanted to admit it,” said Ayars. After several attempts at sobriety, her addiction took over, and last year, at age 28, she passed away from a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl. “You know I get angry and now, I’ve learned so much trying to separate [...]

CLEVELAND, Ohio-- Overdose deaths in Cuyahoga County are predicted to hit at least 825 in 2017, a 25 percent increase from the year before, according to the county medical examiner's office. And the death toll could be as high as 850. "The problem is not getting better," County Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson said at a meeting this week to promote the rollout of Take Charge Ohio, a statewide ad campaign designed to reduce opioid prescriptions. "And from our discussions with other coroners across the state, it's not getting better in their communities either." Last year 666 people in the county died [...]

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Today Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Office released preliminary numbers of drug cases that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) has received to date in 2017. This follows the recent release by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) about the dangers of opioids and the severity of the opioid issue nationwide. “We continue to see more cases of fentanyl, fentanyl related compounds, and carfentanil in our crime lab, and the drug submissions by law enforcement are increasingly more complex and deadly,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. So far in 2017, the number of confirmed carfentanil [...]

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jennifer Emerald Ayars was gone in a matter of months. The 28-year-old, who grew up in Bay Village, returned home in September 2015 after working as a chef out of state. She was struggling with addiction. By the end of February, she had overdosed on a combination of fentanyl and cocaine, one in a wave of Ohioans, nearly 4,000, to die in 2016 of a drug overdose. Jennifer's death led to her family to establish The Emerald Jenny Foundation, a non-profit started with about $100,000 of their own money, and $40,000 from a small group of donors. [...]

AKRON - Dozens of families who have lost loved ones to overdoses gathered in Akron Wednesday night to celebrate Thanksgiving early. Many of the attendees were children. "It destroys families completely," said Taylor Bornstein. "Making a difference for someone else is the biggest way to push through it." Bornstein helped organize the event, which was hosted by Hope United. "These kids have lost parents, some have lost brothers and sisters," said Brenda Cameron Ryan. Ryan is now both a grandmother and mother to her seven-year-old grandson. She became his caregiver after her daughter, her grandson's mother, died of an overdose. "We're always focusing on [...]

NORWALK, OH - JULY 15: Derrick Slaughter (5) attends a march through the streets of Norwalk against the epidemic of heroin with his grandmother on July 14, 2017 in Norwalk, Ohio. Both of Derrick's parents are heroin addicts and he is now being raised by his grandparents. The day of action, called Hope Not Heroin, featured a march, speakers, and live bands. According to recent statistics, at least 4,149 Ohioans died from drug overdoses in 2016, a 36 percent leap from just the previous year and making Ohio the leader in the nation’s overdose deaths. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty [...]