There's a reason you might see 169 purple ribbons near Highland Square.

The ribbons represent drug overdose deaths since 2015...says Raynard Packard, who runs the Packard Institute, a counseling center on West Market Street.

He says the count is off by a few months, dating only until January of this year, since there is a backlog of victims.

"There are bodies lining our county corridor," Packard tells WAKR's Jasen Sokol, "and they are still in the process, there's a lag in processing the toxicology results, but there are many more coming."

Packard says the problem isn't just rooted in heroin abuse, and is nowhere near a peak.

He says new synthetic opiods, including fentanyl, have many times the potency of street level heroin.

A banner will continue to keep track of overdose deaths by number.