Health & Fitness
CT Drug Overdose Deaths Town-By-Town In 2019
Current projections show an upward trend in overdose deaths. A powerful tranquilizer has also been found in some deaths.
CONNECTICUT — The state’s recent downturn in fatal overdose deaths appears to be heading back up after a rough first half of the year with 544 deaths between January and June, according to the state Office of the Medical Examiner. A powerful veterinary tranquilizer was found in some of the deaths this year after not being found in any last year.
If current trends continue there will be a projected 1,088 overdose deaths in Connecticut by the end of 2019, which would be an increase from the 1,017 in 2018. Deaths were on the rise from at least 2012 to 2017 and 2018 was the first year there was a decrease.
The powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl continues to be a major contributor to the deaths with it being found in 75 percent of cases. Fentanyl-involved deaths have increased every year since 2012.
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Overall opioids have been involved in 94 percent of fatal overdoses so far in 2019, which mirrors trends in recent years.
Cocaine-involved overdose deaths also continue to rise with a projected 390 for 2019 compared to 345 in 2018.
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Veterinary tranquilizer Xylazine was found in 26 deaths so far in 2019; it was found in no deaths during all of 2018.
“Xylazine, a veterinarian tranquilizer, was detected in 26 fentanyl deaths,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. James Gill. “This is likely being added locally as an adulterant.”
Xylazine has been abused as a drug in Puerto Rico for several years, often in combination with cocaine in the form of a speedball, according to a study done by Universidad de Puerto Ric
Fatal overdose victims range in age from 18 to 71-years-old.
Municipalities with the highest number of residents killed by overdoses:
- Hartford: 45
- Waterbury: 34
- Bridgeport: 30
- New Haven: 26
- New Britain: 21
- Bristol: 13
- Torrington: 13
- Meriden: 12
- East Hartford: 11
- East Haven, New London and Norwich: 10
Below is a town-by-town breakdown for residents who died from overdoses from the state Office of the Medical Examiner. This data doesn't reflect where victims overdosed. Some location data wasn't known or victims are from out-of-state.
| Town | Population | Fatal Overdoses | Deaths Per 10,000 Residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andover | 3231 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ansonia | 18721 | 5 | 2.67 |
| Ashford | 4261 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Avon | 18302 | 1 | 0.55 |
| Barkhamsted | 3624 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Beacon Falls | 6182 | 3 | 4.85 |
| Berlin | 20432 | 1 | 0.49 |
| Bethany | 5479 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bethel | 19714 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bethlehem | 3422 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bloomfield | 21301 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bolton | 4890 | 2 | 4.09 |
| Bozrah | 2537 | 1 | 3.94 |
| Branford | 28005 | 3 | 1.07 |
| Bridgeport | 144900 | 30 | 2.07 |
| Bridgewater | 1641 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bristol | 60032 | 13 | 2.17 |
| Brookfield | 17002 | 3 | 1.76 |
| Brooklyn | 8280 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Burlington | 9665 | 1 | 1.03 |
| Canaan | 1055 | 1 | 9.48 |
| Canterbury | 5100 | 1 | 1.96 |
| Canton | 10270 | 2 | 1.95 |
| Chaplin | 2256 | 2 | 8.87 |
| Cheshire | 29179 | 2 | 0.69 |
| Chester | 4229 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Clinton | 12950 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Colchester | 15936 | 3 | 1.88 |
| Colebrook | 1405 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Columbia | 5385 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Cornwall | 1368 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Coventry | 12414 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Cromwell | 13905 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Danbury | 84730 | 8 | 0.94 |
| Darien | 21753 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Deep River | 4463 | 1 | 2.24 |
| Derby | 12515 | 4 | 3.20 |
| Durham | 7195 | 1 | 1.39 |
| Eastford | 1790 | 1 | 5.59 |
| East Granby | 5147 | 0 | 0.00 |
| East Haddam | 8988 | 0 | 0.00 |
| East Hampton | 12854 | 2 | 1.56 |
| East Hartford | 49998 | 11 | 2.20 |
| East Haven | 28699 | 10 | 3.48 |
| East Lyme | 18645 | 1 | 0.54 |
| Easton | 7517 | 0 | 0.00 |
| East Windsor | 11375 | 4 | 3.52 |
| Ellington | 16299 | 1 | 0.61 |
| Enfield | 44466 | 7 | 1.57 |
| Essex | 6674 | 2 | 3.00 |
| Fairfield | 61952 | 4 | 0.65 |
| Farmington | 25506 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Franklin | 1933 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Glastonbury | 34491 | 1 | 0.29 |
| Goshen | 2879 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Granby | 11375 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Greenwich | 62727 | 5 | 0.80 |
| Griswold | 11591 | 2 | 1.73 |
| Groton | 38692 | 5 | 1.29 |
| Guilford | 22216 | 1 | 0.45 |
| Haddam | 8222 | 1 | 1.22 |
| Hamden | 60940 | 4 | 0.66 |
| Hampton | 1853 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Hartford | 122587 | 45 | 3.67 |
| Hartland | 2120 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Harwinton | 5430 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Hebron | 9482 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kent | 2785 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Killingly | 17287 | 1 | 0.58 |
| Killingworth | 6370 | 1 | 1.57 |
| Lebanon | 7207 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ledyard | 14736 | 5 | 3.39 |
| Lisbon | 4248 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Litchfield | 8127 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lyme | 2338 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Madison | 18106 | 2 | 1.10 |
| Manchester | 57699 | 8 | 1.39 |
| Mansfield | 25817 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Marlborough | 6358 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Meriden | 59540 | 12 | 2.02 |
| Middlebury | 7731 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Middlefield | 4380 | 1 | 2.28 |
| Middletown | 46146 | 7 | 1.52 |
| Milford | 54661 | 6 | 1.10 |
| Monroe | 19470 | 1 | 0.51 |
| Montville | 18716 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Morris | 2262 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Naugatuck | 31288 | 5 | 1.60 |
| New Britain | 72453 | 21 | 2.90 |
| New Canaan | 20213 | 0 | 0.00 |
| New Fairfield | 13877 | 2 | 1.44 |
| New Hartford | 6685 | 1 | 1.50 |
| New Haven | 130418 | 26 | 1.99 |
| Newington | 30112 | 3 | 1.00 |
| New London | 26939 | 10 | 3.71 |
| New Milford | 26974 | 4 | 1.48 |
| Newtown | 27774 | 2 | 0.72 |
| Norfolk | 1640 | 0 | 0.00 |
| North Branford | 14158 | 2 | 1.41 |
| North Canaan | 3254 | 1 | 3.07 |
| North Haven | 23691 | 4 | 1.69 |
| North Stonington | 5243 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Norwalk | 89047 | 8 | 0.90 |
| Norwich | 39136 | 10 | 2.56 |
| Old Lyme | 7366 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Old Saybrook | 10087 | 1 | 0.99 |
| Orange | 13949 | 1 | 0.72 |
| Oxford | 13226 | 1 | 0.76 |
| Plainfield | 15173 | 1 | 0.66 |
| Plainville | 17623 | 6 | 3.40 |
| Plymouth | 11645 | 2 | 1.72 |
| Pomfret | 4204 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Portland | 9305 | 2 | 2.15 |
| Preston | 4638 | 2 | 4.31 |
| Prospect | 9790 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Putnam | 9395 | 2 | 2.13 |
| Redding | 9125 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ridgefield | 25008 | 2 | 0.80 |
| Rocky Hill | 20145 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Roxbury | 2160 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Salem | 4123 | 1 | 2.43 |
| Salisbury | 3598 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Scotland | 1685 | 1 | 5.93 |
| Seymour | 16509 | 1 | 0.61 |
| Sharon | 2703 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Shelton | 41097 | 3 | 0.73 |
| Sherman | 3614 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Simsbury | 24979 | 1 | 0.40 |
| Somers | 10834 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Southbury | 19656 | 4 | 2.04 |
| Southington | 43807 | 6 | 1.37 |
| South Windsor | 26054 | 1 | 0.38 |
| Sprague | 2889 | 1 | 3.46 |
| Stafford | 11884 | 3 | 2.52 |
| Stamford | 129775 | 5 | 0.39 |
| Sterling | 3780 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Stonington | 18449 | 1 | 0.54 |
| Stratford | 51967 | 8 | 1.54 |
| Suffield | 15743 | 1 | 0.64 |
| Thomaston | 7560 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Thompson | 9395 | 2 | 2.13 |
| Tolland | 14655 | 1 | 0.68 |
| Torrington | 34228 | 13 | 3.80 |
| Trumbull | 35802 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Union | 840 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Vernon | 29303 | 9 | 3.07 |
| Voluntown | 2535 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Wallingford | 44535 | 1 | 0.22 |
| Warren | 1399 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Washington | 3434 | 1 | 2.91 |
| Waterbury | 108093 | 34 | 3.15 |
| Waterford | 18887 | 1 | 0.53 |
| Watertown | 21641 | 4 | 1.85 |
| Westbrook | 6914 | 3 | 4.34 |
| West Hartford | 62939 | 2 | 0.32 |
| West Haven | 54879 | 9 | 1.64 |
| Weston | 10247 | 2 | 1.95 |
| Westport | 28115 | 1 | 0.36 |
| Wethersfield | 26082 | 2 | 0.77 |
| Willington | 5887 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Wilton | 18397 | 1 | 0.54 |
| Winchester | 10655 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Windham | 24706 | 9 | 3.64 |
| Windsor | 28760 | 2 | 0.70 |
| Windsor Locks | 12876 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Wolcott | 16649 | 1 | 0.60 |
| Woodbridge | 8805 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Woodbury | 9537 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Woodstock | 7862 | 1 | 1.27 |
Correction: Data has been updated to reflect boroughs within towns.
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