Updated February 2020 (*please note 2019 numbers are preliminary and reported through November*)

• Chittenden County: In 2018, opioid-related overdose fatlities among Chittenden County residents decreased by 50% (from 28 in 2017 to 14 in 2018). This was the first year since 2014 that we've seen a reduction in fatalities. This reduction has been sustained in 2019. If you click on the “Trend Line Comparison” button in the top right corner of the graph, you can see that opioids were involved in 88% of all drug overdose deaths in 2018.
• Vermont: 2017 opioid-related fatality data appears to show we are beginning to bend the curve on the upward spiral of opioid-related fatalities in Vermont. After a 30% increase from 2015 to 2016 (from 74 to 96 deaths among Vermont residents); we see a 12% increase in deaths from 2016 to 2017 (from 96 to 108 deaths among Vermont residents), and a 2% increase from 2017 to 2018 (from 108 to 110). [1]
• United States: In 2016, opioids were involved in 42,249 deaths in the United States, and opioid overdose deaths were five times higher in 2016 than 1999. In 2016, 66.4% of the 63,632 drug overdose deaths involved anopioid. In 2017, among 70,237 drug overdose deaths, 47,600 (67.8%) involved opioids, with increases across age groups, racial/ethnic groups, county urbanization levels, and in multiple states. [2] On average, 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. [3] The social and economic costs of substance use disorder reach into every corner of our community, and affect both men and women, all races, and adults of nearly all ages. [4]

• Vermont Department of Health
• Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
   

• Promote widespread distribution of Naloxone (Narcan) [5]
• Raise awareness and encourage users to make safe choices [6]
• Lower the barriers to buprenorphine prescriptions and make treatment more accessible [7][8]
• Utilize evidence-based prevention strategies [9]
• Support recovery [10]