Cook County and Chicago officials are warning of an alarming rise in opioid-related overdose deaths in recent years, with thousands of deaths linked to overdoses.
The Medical Examiner's Office recorded nearly 2,000 overdose deaths in 2022, marking a record high. Of those, 1,824 involved fentanyl.
The numbers reflect a sharp increase since 2015, when 676 deaths were recorded.
| Year | Total Opioid Overdose Deaths | Fentanyl-Related |
| 2021 | 1,935 | 1,721 |
| 2020 | 1,846 | 1,533 |
| 2019 | 1,295 | 961 |
| 2018 | 1,170 | 847 |
| 2017 | 1,195 | 669 |
| 2016 | 1,126 | 560 |
| 2015 | 676 | 103 |
According to the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), in 2022, there were more opioid-related overdose deaths in Chicago than homicides and traffic crash fatalities combined.
"Only two milligrams of Fentanyl can be enough to be a potentially fatal dose," said Luis Agostini, the public information officer for the Chicago Field Division of the DEA. "Fentanyl is responsible for a majority of the thousands of drug overdose deaths we are experiencing here."
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Melissa Ledesma's daughter is one of the many lives lost to the epidemic.
"Angel had a laugh that could fill up a room," said Ledesma. "She was a fun kid. She loved animals."
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Angel was 20 years old and died of a heroin overdose in June. Ledesma says her daughter was on a path to recovery and had visited several rehab facilities.
She believes her daughter relapsed and took drugs that were laced with Fentanyl.
"This is way more prevalent than people realize. Addiction doesn’t discriminate," said Ledesma. "The majority of these people are not intending to use Fentanyl. They’re literally putting drugs in your drugs."
Agostini says young people are especially susceptible to unknowingly consuming substances contaminated with synthetic drugs, including Fentanyl and Xylazine, a non-opioid animal tranquilizer.
"They're not really going out with the intention of taking Fentanyl. They may be taking a pill whether it's to help them study or at a party, and they think it's safe. They procured the pill online, but they don't know this pill has been laced with Fentanyl," he said. "The only safe medication to take is that which has been prescribed by your doctor and dispensed at a registered pharmacy."
From 2019 to 2020, Chicago saw a 52% increase in opioid-related overdose deaths.
"That's the sharpest increase we’ve seen in Chicago," said Sarah Richardson, a grant research specialist with CDPH.
Public health officials say the crisis was exacerbated by the pandemic and an increasingly potent drug supply.
To combat the growing problem, the city and state partnered to launch an opioid hotline to offer immediately available medication to Chicagoans to treat opioid use disorder. Medication-assisted recovery (MAR) involves the use of FDA-approved medications for the treatment.
The Illinois Helpline for Opioids and Other Substances is a free statewide resource available 24/7 through the Illinois Department of Human Services.
"You call this number: (833) 233-6343, 24/7, whenever you feel ready, ask for opioid treatment and you will be connected to a provider and a care manager who are going to talk to you about your opioid use, what you are looking for, and on the phone, right there in that conversation, you will be prescribed medication to treat opioid disorder," said Richardson.
The city has also made NARCAN more widely available in public places, including at more than two dozen public libraries.
For the first time, mental health professionals have also been embedded into the 911 system through the city's Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program.
In January, the newest model of the program was launched. The Opioid Response team consists of a CFD Community Paramedic and a Peer Recovery Specialist from a community agency.
There are also groups like the Chicago Recovery Alliance (CRA), dedicated to addiction treatment and support.
CRA is a harm reduction organization that focuses on outreach, HIV testing and overdose prevention.
Jenny Andel is an overdose prevention manager and survived multiple overdoses. She's now 13 years into recovery from a Heroin dependency. She relied on CRA during her drug use.
"It was really a place I could go and people would talk to me and treat me as if I was a person."
"That’s part of the problem," said Andel. "A lot of the spaces people who use drugs go into, medical, law enforcement, things like that, they’re not treated great. We just want to talk to people and let them tell us what they need."
The group works with the city on overdose training programs and to reduce the stigma.
"We really need to start focusing on people and treating them as human beings because that’s what they are."
