Opioid deaths in Illinois have decreased for the first time since 2018, and Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is in part crediting the availability of naloxone and a substance abuse disorder hotline for the life-saving drop.
According to an Illinois Department of Public Health report, Illinois recorded an 8.3% decrease in overall drug overdose deaths in 2023, exceeding a nationwide decline of 4%. Opioid overdose deaths dropped 9.7%, compared to 3% nationally.
In total, 3,502 people died from an overdose in Illinois in 2023, which is 317 fewer than in 2022, data show. The state believes increased naloxone distribution throughout the state, community outreach through harm reduction organizations and drug overdose prevention programs, the availability of fentanyl test strips and improved access to treatment and medication-assisted recovery have contributed to the decrease in deaths.
Since 2021, the state has distributed one million two-dose boxes of Narcan — a brand of naloxone that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses — to community-based organizations, substance use disorder treatment centers, harm reduction organizations, hospitals and clinics across the state.
The state also partnered with The Naloxone Project to reduce the stigma over naloxone use and increase hospital participation in take-home naloxone distribution. Another program helps to provide treatment for opioid use disorder in jails across 32 counties.
Deputy Governor Grace Hou credited part of the drop to a 24/7 hotline — at (833) 234-6343 and the helplineil.org website — for helping Illinois residents find substance abuse disorder services quickly. Illinois residents can access recovery services and medications for opioid use disorders and alcohol abuse disorders through the hotline.
“We’ve had thousands and thousands of individuals who have accessed the help line and then found a pathway to get towards recovery, which is ultimately what we want folks to see,” Hou told the Sun-Times. “Narcan is a one time kind of life-saving response, but we want people to find a path to recovery for a more permanent pathway.”
A pilot program between the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois State Police that began in 2020 is also allowing state troopers to connect those charged with drug crimes with case managers to try to find a way to recovery.
There are still racial disparities when it comes to overdose deaths in Illinois, with Black individuals more likely to die from an overdose than other racial groups. The state is targeting that disparity with the creation of task forces on the West and South sides of Chicago, community outreach programs and remediation programs.
Hou said Narcan has been made more available in those areas, but the state relies on community-based organizations to spotlight the critical areas of support needed for their communities.
“Even while we are very proud of the work and recognize that more needs to be done, and that we’re glad to see a decline, I think we need to continue to be diligent about providing interventions in those communities, particularly within the Black community, to see declines in even greater proportion,” Hou said.
The state also targets over-prescribing by doctors with the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program, which monitors prescription patterns and can flag prescription abuse.
According to the latest figures, deaths involving synthetic opioids, like fentanyl analogs, also decreased by 9.5% in 2023, deaths involving heroin dropped by 21.2%, and natural and semisynthetic opioids deaths decreased by 17.4%. There were 2,855 fatalities attributed to opioid overdoses, 305 fewer than in 2022, marking a decrease of 9.7%.
The only drug that saw a notable increase in deaths in 2023 was xylazine. The data shows deaths involving xylazine were up 6.4% to 249 in total.
Hou said xylazine is a drug prescribed by veterinarians that is being used illicitly as a sedative or a tranquilizer. The deputy governor said the drug has also been found within other drugs, similar to how fentanyl is sometimes laced with opioids or other illegal drugs.
“Unfortunately, even as we find strategies to address an issue within one particular point in time, I would guess the other side of this continues to innovate and be creative in finding ways to infuse illicit substances for different types of high,” Hou said. “This is a problem that we need to address on a regular basis. The problem has not been solved, and it continues to evolve.”
There were a record-setting 107,891 overdose deaths in 2021 in the U.S. — marking the highest number of overdose fatalities ever recorded within a 12-month period. That increase began before the COVID-19 pandemic, but got much worse throughout 2020 and 2021.
Pritzker released an overdose action plan in 2022, which was based on preventing the spread of the opioid epidemic, as well as providing treatment and recovery, and averting overdose deaths.