CT Drug Overdose Deaths Town-By-Town In 2023

CONNECTICUT — The Connecticut Medical Examiner's Office is reporting that accidental drug intoxication deaths in the state have dropped for the second year in a row.

There were 1,452 accidental drug intoxications in 2022 and 1,329 in 2023, a drop of 5 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is at least 50 times stronger than morphine, was the culprit detected in 85 percent of the deaths. The number of Connecticut deaths involving fentanyl decreased from 1,253 in 2022 to 1,124 last year, according to the ME's report. The drug was involved in just 4 percent of fatal overdoses in 2012.

Xylazine, also known as "tranq," a powerful sedative approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for veterinary use, has also found its way to Connecticut. Happily, xylazine use among state residents has decreased from 351 in 2022 to 286 in 2023. Xylazine and fentanyl drug mixtures place users at a higher risk of suffering a fatal drug poisoning, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency: Because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects.

Fentanyl analogs — illegal pharmacological remixes of the sedative — have a similar chemical structure, and mimic its effects, frequently with fatal outcomes. Their use has increased from 76 in 2022 to 173 in 2023, according to the state data.

Deaths involving heroin have continued to decrease, but fatalities involving cocaine have increased from 684 in 2022 to 724 deaths in 2023. The cocaine increase may be related to the combined use of fentanyl and cocaine, according to the state ME's report. It is possible that people who believe they were buying cocaine were actually receiving a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl. For the deaths with cocaine, 87 percent also had fentanyl and 55 percent of the deaths with fentanyl had cocaine.

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Four of the drug deaths last year in Connecticut involved a group of novel synthetic opioids known as nitazenes. The drug has never been approved for medical use, and is being sourced from China, according to the DEA. It's much more potent than heroin and morphine, and is being mixed into and marketed as other drugs to make drugs more potent and cheaper to produce. It also makes them more likely to cause deadly overdoses.

Below are town-by-town overdose figures from the Office of the State Medical Examiner.