Cook County sees record number of opioid deaths in 2022

Chicago Recovery Alliance Executive Director John Werning is sounding the alarm after authorities reported a record 2,000 opioid overdose deaths were recorded in Cook County in 2022.

“These numbers aren’t at all surprising and speak to what I see as a policy failure,” Werning told The Center Square. “This is all a product of a society that does not care about people that have dependencies. We simply haven’t invested proper resources to the problem. Chicago is not unique in this way, and it’s really something we see across the country.”

With last year’s overdose death toll surpassing the previous high of 1,935 set in 2021, officials said 91% of the most recent deaths involved fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.

With more than 70% of the deaths occurring in Chicago, officials add 78% of the victims were males, with African Americans comprising 56% of the overall deaths, whites 29% and Latinos 15%.

With overdose deaths across the country having risen nearly every year since 2018, authorities add one of the biggest jumps came around the time of the COVID-19 related lockdowns, with a jump of 42% taking place between 2019 and 2020.

Werning argues people can expect more of the same if lawmakers aren’t ready and willing to do what needs to be done.

“The war on drugs has failed and we can’t just incarcerate people to solve this problem,” he said. "Until we start to take more of a health focus approach we’re going to continue to see high rates of overdoses and deaths.”

Werning and Chicago Alliance officials are pushing for an increase in the use of harm reduction strategies, or public health policies designed to curtail certain health and safety issues associated with drug use. He added another goal is to establish so-called overdose prevention sites where people can take pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of professionals or access other needed resources, a controversial approach that has been attempted in other parts of the country. The group is also working with health officials across the state to set up initiatives such as Narcan distribution, a lifesaving drug that reverses an opioid overdose.

“People don’t stop using drugs all at once," Werner said. “It’s a process and it takes time and we want to keep people safe and alive.”