FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): It’ll get worse before it gets better.

That’s what Fort Wayne and Allen County officials are saying about the opioid epidemic, after seeing a spike in overdoses between 2015 and 2016, with the county expected to set a new record this year.

Fort Wayne-Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deborah McMahan tells WOWO News it’s at least partly connected to a drug called “spice.”

“A lot of people think it’s just synthetic marijuana. it’s not even that anymore, now they just take a leaf that looks like pot, but they spray it with all these chemicals, like bug spray or antifreeze,” McMahan says. “They’re adulterating these products, making them like 95% THC.”

So far this year there have been 587 opioid overdoses in Allen County. 53 of them have been fatal.