Overdose deaths in Sedgwick County – like many other parts of the country – are dramatically decreasing after years of growth driven by fentanyl.
Between 2022 and 2023, county data showed that there were 17% fewer deaths, and that trend may likely continue.
Advocates, like Safe Streets Executive Director Aonya Kendrick Barnett, attribute the decrease to broader access to naloxone, a lifesaving medicine that reverses opioid overdoses, and the legalization of fentanyl test strips. The strips can detect the presence of fentanyl in drugs and other substances.
“I just think overdose prevention overall in Kansas is progressing, slowly, but surely,” Kendrick Barnett said. “But it's really, really important for us to keep opening these communication lines, reducing the stigma, opening the dialog and giving people the dignity and care and access to resources that they need to stay safe.”
Safe Streets has distributed thousands of naloxone kits for years. It also helped get a free naloxone vending machine installed near Murdock and Broadway – a major overdose hotspot in town.
The county’s health director, Adrienne Byrne, and Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter attributed the decrease to education in the community, along with harm reduction strategies.
“There's been a lot of education being pushed just because of the amount of deaths, the amount of lives that fentanyl was taking at all ages,” Byrne said. “It has been a focus of a lot of partners, just because of how deadly this is.”
While the decrease in deaths is welcomed by the county, data shows that the decrease isn’t being seen in all demographic groups.
A majority of overdose deaths in the county are among white people, but it’s also the population seeing the largest decrease.
Other demographic groups aren’t seeing as much of a decline. In 2022, county data shows 43 Black people died from an overdose. The following year, that only dropped to 40. Among white people, deaths dropped from 215 to 179.
Kendrick Barnett said this shows that prevention efforts need to be equitable among all demographics.
“There's so much we could be doing, and I appreciate the decline in overall deaths, but that does not mean that it's time to slow down or stop,” Kendrick Barnett said. “All that means is the interventions are working, and we need to rev it up a little bit and be extremely, extremely tailored to marginalized communities and communities of color that truly need policies and care and preventative measures that align with what works.”
For the Sheriff’s Office, it continues to push abstinence-based approaches to preventing drug deaths.
“The biggest thing that I would tell people is, ‘Don't do it,’ ” Easter said. “This stuff is extremely dangerous. You don't know what you're getting, how much is in the pill. Stay away from it. Don't do it.”
But Byrne said the reality is that people will continue to use drugs.
“We want to help prevent deaths by being able to test if fentanyl might be in the opioid or whatever drug that they might be using,” Byrne said of the legalization of test strips.
Kendrick Barnett, who is also running for a Kansas House seat, said she hopes the state will continue to look at public health policies that can continue the decrease.
“We are not investing in the things we need to invest in, everything from Medicaid expansion all the way down to properly compensating people for the work that they're doing to help reduce overdose deaths, and that has to change,” she said.
Recovery from addiction is possible. For treatment and substance use resources and information, visit kmuw.org/substanceuse or findtreatment.gov.
