Opioid Overdoses and Deaths Rising In St. Louis County

In St. Louis County, the percentage of Narcan administered has jumped by 10% since 2018.

DULUTH, Minn. – 2019 was a record year for St. Louis County.

Opioid overdoses rose from 151 in 2018 to 230 in 2019.

More than 20 of those overdose victims died, which is seven more than the year before.

In Duluth alone, there were nearly 200 overdoses, 15 of which were also fatal.

One more death is expected to be added following confirmation of a pending toxicology test.

Duluth Police Department’s Opioid Program Technician says the contributing factors for the rise came in what she calls three waves.

“The first being prescription rates. You get people hooked on opioids due to the prescription they get from their doctors,” said Jess Nikila. “when there are more prescriptions, there becomes more of an underground market for the sale of prescriptions. You get a good base of opioids, then heroin comes in. The next wave is fentanyl.”

Experts say fentanyl is becoming much more common in St. Louis county.

The synthetic drug is usually found in heroin.

With the growing number of overdoses comes an increase in the use of the overdose antidote drug, Narcan.

In St. Louis County, the percentage of Narcan administered has jumped by 10% since 2018.

Nikila says the only way to bring these numbers down is by increasing the conversation about recovery.

In better news, Minnesota Department of Health statistics show rates are actually dropping in other areas of the state.