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Deaths that involved fentanyl as the only opioid and deaths that involved opioid pain relievers were the only drug types that increased from the first half of 2020 to 2021. In the first half of 2021, about 90% of opioid-related overdose deaths involved fentanyl. This is a slight increase from 2020 (82%).
- Pandemic ‘Hopelessness’ and Rise of Fentanyl
- Chicago’s West Side Is Epicenter of Overdoses
- ‘Lives Are Going to Be saved.’
- ‘We Want to Be The First of A Thousand’
- ‘It Starts with Compassion’
The spike in opioid deaths worsened after the pandemic broke out and stay-at-home orders were issued in 2020. The toll in Cook County was 1,840 for that year, compared with 1,295 the year before. Experts suspect the lockdown made drug use more dangerous by forcing people to take drugs alone, away from anyone who could resuscitate them. The pandemic...
Last year’s overdose deaths in Cook County were concentrated on Chicago’s West Side. The three ZIP codes with the highest number of deaths cover West Garfield Park (60624, with 110 deaths), South Austin (60644, with 77) and East Garfield Park (60612, with 57). The neighborhoods with the next highest concentrations were in Chatham (60620, with 54) a...
State and local agencies have stepped up their initiatives as the deaths have spiked, but efforts to open an injection site stalled when the pandemic hit. Earlier this month, Chicago’s health department announced it would dispense doses of the life-saving drug naloxone from wall-mounted boxes in 14 public libraries. People can take as many dosesas ...
Sam Rivera directs the nonprofit OnPoint, which runs safe consumption sites in New York City — the first to open in the country. “We want to be the first of a thousand,” he said but warned it will take “courage” without full approval from the state and federal governments. “I say it takes courage because people say it’s crazy, but it isn’t,” Rivera...
Joshi, the Cook County health official, said safe sites should be considered life-saving treatment. “There’s a lot of science that indicates that addictions have a neurological basis, an environmental basis, and that people with addictions should really be treated ... with the same compassion as people with any other chronic disease,” Joshi said. “...
- David Struett
- GA Reporter
- dstruett@suntimes.com
Jul 25, 2023 · CHICAGO — Fentanyl is behind nearly all of a record number of opioid overdose deaths last year in Cook County, according to newly-released data. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said...
Jul 26, 2023 · The vast majority of opioid overdoses last year — 91% — involved fentanyl, the synthetic drug that’s often mixed with heroin but is 50 times more potent, the medical examiner’s office said.
From 2018 to 2019 the rate of opioid-related overdose death increased for fentanyl-involved and fentanyl-only overdoses, while rates decreased for heroin-involved overdoses and opioid pain-reliever involved overdoses.
May 15, 2024 · “For several years, Chicago and other parts of the United States have seen an epidemic of opioid overdoses, many attributable to the synthetic drug fentanyl, which is up to 50 times more powerful than heroin,” said CDPH Commissioner Olusimbo ‘Simbo’ Ige, MD, MPH. “Yet, we have tools to help prevent fatal overdoses. With greater awareness and understanding of the increase in opioid ...
Jan 3, 2024 · The year’s youngest opioid overdose death in Cook County was an 8-month-old boy from Chicago. The oldest was a 93-year-old woman from Arlington Heights. *Preliminary data. The Office also handled a total of 828 homicides in 2023, 651 in the City of Chicago.
