At least 70 people have overdosed and died in Cuyahoga County so far this year, according to new data from the medical examiner’s office. Six of those deaths occurred just this past Saturday in a particularly alarming 24-hour span.

The medical examiner’s office reports that there are still several cases awaiting final toxicology results, and that the number could — and, based on our observations, likely will — increase.

The news follows the 2016 numbers, still not 100-percent finalized, that showed more than 500 people had fatally overdosed across the county. Scene, in attempting to profile men and women in recovery last year, ended up meeting with one man during the last few weeks of his life before he relapsed and overdosed.

This article appears in Feb 1-7, 2017.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.