Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman the Mid-Hudson Valley region reported a greater number of deaths from heroin and opioid pain relievers in 2016 than anywhere else in the state, according to a report issued by the state Health Department. Greene and Sullivan counties were among 14 counties outside of New York City with the highest death rates statewide. In Ulster County, both heroin deaths and deaths from all opioids, including heroin, decreased in 2017 from 2016 when the number of those deaths hit a three-year high. But even with the decrease, the number of people that died from opioid drugs still far exceeded those who died in 2015. Greene County had 11 opioid-related deaths in 2017, including 6 from heroin in 2017, one less than seen in 2016. Columbia County saw opioid- and heroin-related deaths increase in 2017 over 2016, as well. According to the state’s preliminary 2017 report, statewide, the rate of all opioid deaths per 100,000 of the population doubled between 2010 and 2015, while the number of heroin deaths increased by more than five times during the same time frame. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.