The Orleans Parish coroner says drug deaths rose by more than a third last year in New Orleans, and were more than five times the number in 2015. Coroner Dwight McKenna says 94% of those for whom lab results were available had taken the synthetic opioid called fentanyl, often with cocaine or amphetamines. He said in a news release Wednesday that fentanyl is regularly cut into other drugs, and makes taking street drugs like playing Russian roulette. McKenna says drugs killed 492 people in New Orleans last year, up from 365 in 2020. Earlier news releases show the total was 92 in 2015.