These IL Counties Lead State In Opioid, Fentanyl Deaths: Report

ILLINOIS — Winnebago County has the highest rates of opioid and other drug overdose deaths in Illinois, according to a tracker based on federal health data.

A study published in The Lancet last year found the North American opioid crisis was driven by insufficient regulation of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, enabling a “profit-driven quadrupling of opioid prescribing” for a broad range of chronic, non-cancer pain conditions.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of people have fatally overdosed on prescription opioids and millions more have become addicted, the researchers said. As a result, heroin markets became saturated with synthetics, including the more deadly and cheaper fentanyl.

There were six times more drug overdose deaths in 2021 than in 1999, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. More than 75 percent of the nearly 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021 involved an opioid or synthetic opioid. Since 1999, more than a million people nationwide have died of drug overdoses, according to CDC data.

A data visualization by the San Francisco Chronicle shows overdose deaths per 100,000 residents and the share of deaths that involve fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. Here are the 10 places in Illinois where fentanyl and other drug overdose deaths are occurring:

Winnebago County: The drug overdose death rate was 59.2 percent per 100,000 people (167 deaths) in 2022. That’s down from 54.3 percent per 100,000 people, 62 percent of which were Fentanyl-related, in 2018. By comparison, 82 percent were Fentanyl-related in 2022.

Kankakee County: The drug overdose death rate was 44.3 per 100,000 people (47 deaths) in 2022. That’s up from 25.5 percent per 100,000 people, 68 percent of which were Fentanyl-related, in 2018. By comparison, 81 percent were Fentanyl-related in 2022.

Cook County: The drug overdose death rate was 43.8 percent per 100,000 people (2,237 deaths) in 2022. That’s up from 25.5 percent per 100,000 people, 64 percent of which were Fentanyl-related, in 2018. By comparison, 80 percent were Fentanyl-related in 2022.

Peoria County: The drug overdose death rate was 43.7 percent per 100,000 people (78 deaths) in 2022. That’s up from 38.2 percent per 100,000 people, 64 percent of which were Fentanyl-related, in 2018. By comparison, 82 percent were Fentanyl-related in 2022.

Jefferson County: The drug overdose death rate was 41.2 percent per 100,000 people (15 deaths) in 2022. Officials said 73 percent of the overdose deaths were Fentanyl-related. The county did not provide data from 2018.

Madison County: The drug overdose death rate was 40.2 percent per 100,000 people (106 deaths) in 2022. That’s up from 39 percent per 100,000 people, 69 percent of which were Fentanyl-related, in 2018. By comparison, 74 percent were Fentanyl-related in 2022.

Vermillion County: The drug overdose death rate was 38.7 percent per 100,000 people (28 deaths) in 2022. That’s up from 13 percent per 100,000 people. In 2022, 86 percent of the overdose deaths were Fentanyl-related.

Marion County: The drug overdose death rate was 37.2 percent per 100,000 people (14 deaths) in 2022. Data shows that 86 percent of the overdose deaths were Fentanyl-related. The county did not provide data from 2018.

Champaign County: The drug overdose death rate was 35.8 percent per 100,000 people (74 deaths) in 2022. That’s up from 19.1 percent per 100,000 people, 35 percent of which were Fentanyl-related, in 2018. By comparison, 66 percent were Fentanyl-related in 2022.

Sangamon County: The drug overdose death rate was 34.4 percent per 100,000 people (67 deaths) in 2022. That’s up from 29.1 percent per 100,000 people, 37 percent of which were Fentanyl-related, in 2018. By comparison, 78 percent were Fentanyl-related in 2022.