Suburban drug overdose deaths show sharp decline, but will it last?

Drug overdose deaths in the Chicago area mirror a statewide and national trend showing a sharp decline from 2023 to 2024.

Combined, Cook County and the five collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will show a 24.6% decline in the number of fatal drug overdoses during that time period, according to data from coroners and the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Preliminary estimates indicate the six counties collectively saw 570 fewer drug overdose deaths in 2024 than in 2023, dropping from 2,319 in 2023 to 1,749 last year, records show.

Statewide, drug overdose deaths have dropped an estimated 23.4%, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting the country saw a decline of 27% over the same span.

“Isn’t that wonderful?” asked DuPage County Coroner Judith Lukas. “There are a few things I think we can attribute to that decrease. Education is a big one and I believe the availability of (opiate overdose drug) Narcan is a big one too, along with the availability to testing strips.”

However, substance use disorder advocates worry these gains might be in peril due to shifting political winds.

Chelsea Laliberte Barnes, co-chair of the Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition, said there was increased investment under the Biden administration, which was coupled with opioid settlement dollars.

“Now that (President Donald) Trump has basically gutted Health and Human Services, and we are in a fiscal crisis here in the state around Medicaid because of that, I don’t know that we’re going to continue to see the overdose rates go down,” Barnes worried.

The Trump administration rescinded $153 million in federal grant funding to Illinois programs for mental health services, substance use disorder treatment and infectious disease prevention, according to published news reports.

There are additional concerns from addiction specialists and public health officials about the rise in so-called designer drugs, some that can’t be thwarted by doses of Narcan.

“While the decrease in deaths is good, it’s still very much a crisis,” said Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek. “We’ve started adding test strips for not just fentanyl, but xylazine, a designer drug whose effects can’t be reversed by Narcan.”

She also praised countywide collaborative efforts such as the Lake County Opioid Initiative, which “pulls together stakeholders from around the community to talk about what we see as gaps and what are we looking at in terms of trends.”

Lake County saw just 13 fewer drug overdose deaths in 2024 compared to the year before. The 9.4% decline was the smallest among the Chicago-area counties and an anomaly among them.

DuPage County saw the largest decline with almost 40% fewer drug overdose deaths last year than the year before. According to records from IDPH and the coroner’s office, fatal overdoses dropped from 118 in 2023 to 72 last year.

Cook County, including Chicago and the suburban portion, reported a 25.3% drop, according to data from IDPH and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Kane County reported a 24.4% decline. It was 21.3% less in McHenry County and 19.4% less in Will County, records show.

But the decline in drug overdose deaths hasn’t necessarily translated into a decline in the number of overdoses.

The CDC reported last month as part of its national overview that “in addition to the large provisional drop in fatal overdoses, we also see smaller decreases in nonfatal overdoses, as measured by emergency department visits for overdose.”

“That may only be because someone who is revived by Narcan may not even seek additional medical attention afterward,” Lukas suggested.

According to a recent IDPH report, monthly opioid overdose-related emergency department visits and emergency medical services encounter trends are showing yearly seasonality, with the number of overdoses rising through the spring into summer and decreasing through autumn into winter.

“What people are not actively talking about and covering are nonfatal overdoses and how those numbers have skyrocketed,” said Alex Mathiesen, a program director with Live4Lali, an Arlington Heights-based organization that works to reduce stigma and prevent substance use disorder.

Dr. Kevin Masterson, associate medical director for addiction services at Endeavor Health, said he’s not aware of any quantifiable decline in drug overdoses coinciding with the decline in the number of deaths. But he lauded efforts that have helped reduce the fatal outcomes.

“I think having a focus on increasing and employing harm-reduction strategies has been a great help,” he said. “The continued effort to destigmatize substance use disorders and treat it like any other chronic disease is important as well.”

He and other medical professionals also point to data showing the decline in overdose deaths is affecting racial groups differently.

“While everyone last fall was hearing that overdose deaths are dropping, when we look at individual groups of color, those numbers aren’t showing those same decreases,” said Tanya Sorrell, Director of Rush University Medical Center’s Substance Use Disorder Center of Excellence.

Non-Hispanic Black individuals remain 3.9 times more likely to die from an opioid overdose than non-Hispanic white individuals, a recent IDPH report shows.

Legislative initiatives are still a possibility. One such effort would create an overdose prevention site on the West Side of Chicago. It would provide a safe, hygienic space to consume pre-obtained drugs and access to other harm reduction, treatment and recovery support services.

Addiction and medical experts also note that despite the sharp drop last year, overdose remains a leading cause of death among all Americans aged 18-44.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250607/news/suburban-drug-overdose-deaths-show-sharp-decline-but-will-it-last/