RHODE ISLAND'S RANKING among the 50 states and the District of Columbia for opioid overdose deaths improved slightly from 2016 to 2017, but the Ocean State still had the 11th highest death rate, at 30 per 100,000, on the year. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/KIYOSHI OTA
PROVIDENCE – Friday’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opioid overdose report showed a decrease in overall deaths from 326 in 2016 to 320 in 2017 in Rhode Island, dropping the Ocean State two slots to the 11th highest opioid death rate among U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Last year, Rhode Island had…