Opioid deaths among Vermonters appear to have declined in 2023 after three consecutive years of record deaths, according to new data from the state Department of Health.
There were 231 confirmed state residents who died from opioid-related overdoses last year, down from 244 in 2022, according to a report released Wednesday. The expected 5% decrease is “not statistically significant,” Health Commissioner Mark Levin said. As stated in the press release, the progress is encouraging.
“This is important in the most important way: Fewer families are losing loved ones to opioids,” Levine said.
However, this data is provisional and there are 15 outstanding death certificates, so this number could still be higher than last year's numbers. After all cases were resolved in 2022, seven more deaths were added to the provisional total for that year.
According to the report, 90% of all overdose deaths last year were opioid-related. The majority contained two or more substances, and 29% contained four or more substances.
Fentanyl is a common denominator in most opioid-related deaths, listed on 95% of death certificates. Synthetic opioids can be deadly in doses as small as 2 milligrams and are often mixed into other drugs to increase their potency without the user knowing.
Cocaine had the largest increase in contribution to opioid-related deaths, jumping from 48% in 2022 to 63% in 2023. This makes meth the second most common substance in overdose deaths.
The animal tranquilizer xylazine, which has been linked to an increase in blood-borne diseases, also became more prominent last year, rising from 28% to 32% in 2022. This powerful sedative causes necrotic flesh wounds that are susceptible to infection and can lead to hospitalization and death if: left untreated.
Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant drug abused for its euphoric effects, provided a sign of positive news in the report. The drug, which causes respiratory depression, was linked to the deaths of 31 Vermonters in 2022, but that number dropped to 24 last year.
“This means we're on the right track, but we're far from out of the woods,” Levine said of the report's overall findings.
Vermont is trying to deal with the crisis in several ways. In 2013, it began distributing naloxone, an antidote for opioid overdoses, to community centers. Last year, the state began ordering xylazine test strips. And this week, state lawmakers passed a bill to establish a pilot safe injection site in Burlington. And state lawmakers could conceivably have the vote to override the governor's veto.
But Tracy Hawk, director of the Rutland Turning Point Recovery Center, said there is little sense on the ground that Vermont is changing its opioid overdose trends.
“What we're not really seeing is that overdose deaths are going down,” Hawk said.
Rutland County had the third-highest opioid-related overdose death rate in 2023, at 54 per 100,000 people. Hawk said her center is seeing a steady influx of people suffering from substance use disorders compared to 2022.
“We've seen a lot of sores with xylazine,” she said.
Hawke said he appreciated the state's efforts, but said there was nothing he had seen so far to suggest the trend line would start to turn downward.
“I don't view that data as 'we're winning' against overdoses,” she says.