CT Overdose Deaths Mirror 'Frightening' National Trend: Town-By-Town Update

CONNECTICUT — Fentanyl continues to be a major problem in Connecticut and was involved in the vast majority of 2021 drug overdose deaths.

Drug overdose deaths in Connecticut increased nearly 11 percent in 2021 compared with 2020, according to data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. There were 1,524 fatal overdoses in 2021 and fentanyl was involved in 86 percent of them.

Fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that is at least 50 times stronger than morphine — was involved in just 4 percent of fatal overdoses in 2012.

A combination of fentanyl and cocaine was involved in more than a third of 2021 fatal overdoses in Connecticut. Cocaine and fentanyl can be a deadly combination, especially when people unknowingly ingest fentanyl.

Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram warned law enforcement officials of the growing trend in April after a string of mass overdose events.

“Many of the victims of these mass overdose events thought they were ingesting cocaine and had no idea that they were in fact ingesting fentanyl,” Milgram wrote in a letter.

Drug traffickers are also using fentanyl in counterfeit prescription drug pills, which appear nearly identical to actual prescription drugs like OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin.

“This is creating a frightening nationwide trend where many overdose victims are dying after unknowingly ingesting fentanyl,” Milgram said.

Fentanyl-related deaths eclipsed gun and auto-related deaths combined last year, Milgram said.

Many clubs and bars in New York City now offer fentanyl test strips, according to the New York Times. The test strips are available from online retailers,

Test strips are illegal in about half of states, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. However, many states are moving to legalize them.

The U.S. experienced a 15 percent rise in drug overdose deaths in 2021 compared with 2020, which itself marked a 30 percent increase from 2019, according to the New York Times.

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