BOSTON – A new report by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) names Worcester as one of seven cities and towns with a notable increase in opioid-related deaths in 2022 compared to 2021. The other municipalities named with notable increases are Lawrence, Leominster, Lynn, Springfield, Waltham, and Weymouth
The opioid-related overdose death rate in Massachusetts increased to 33.5 per 100,000 people in 2022, 2.5 percent higher than in 2021.This is 9.1 percent higher than the pre-pandemic peak in 2016, according to preliminary data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). There were 2,357 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in 2022, 57 more than in 2021.
Preliminary data for the first three months of 2023 show an estimated 44 fewer deaths, a 7.7 percent decrease, compared to the same period in 2022, with 522 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths.
Of fatal opioid overdoses in 2022 where a toxicology report was available, fentanyl was present in 93 percent of cases. The percentage of fatal cases where other drugs were present are:
Fentanyl – 93%
Cocaine – 53%
Alcohol – 28%
Benzodiazepines – 27%
Prescription opioids – 11%
Amphetamines – 9%
Heroin – 6%
Xylazine – 5% (in cases from June to December 2022)
Of those opioid related deaths, 47 percent were between 25 and 44 years old; 43 percent were between 45 and 64 years old; 72 percent were male. The most rural communities had the highest opioid-related overdose death rate in 2022 at 36.1 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Among non-Hispanic Black residents, the opioid-related overdose death rate increased by 42 percent, from 36.4 to 51.7 deaths per 100,000 residents between 2021 and 2022. Non-Hispanic Black men experienced the highest increase in opioid-related overdose death rate among males in all race/ethnicity groups, with a 41% increase from 56.4 to 79.6 deaths per 100,000. Non-Hispanic Black women also saw a 47% increase, from 17.4 to 25.5 deaths per 100,000.
Governor Healey’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposes investments of over $600 million for substance addiction prevention and treatment programs. These investments include expanding outpatient services, improving access to crisis stabilization services in communities and emergency departments, and strengthening the continuum of care in inpatient settings.
DPH says the state is working on increasing access to naloxone, an overdose-reversal drug commonly known as Narcan. It says it distributed nearly 300,000 naloxone kits since 2020, increasing distribution by approximately 40 percent each year. Naloxone was administered in 97 percent of acute opioid overdoses occurring in the first three months of 2023.
