Madison County breaks record of opioid-related deaths

EDWARDSVILLE, IL – A tragic and disturbing record was broken tonight in the Metro East – more people died this year of drug overdoses in Madison County.

And the vast majority of these deaths are related to opioids.

Madison County coroner Steve Nonn says opioid overdose deaths are a problem that has reached epidemic levels in Madison County and across the country.

He says the crisis is hitting all over Madison County and that fentanyl is the main culprit.

Nonn tells us that so far, in 2018, 92 people in Madison County have died as a result of an overdose, mostly related to opioids.

This number exceeds the previous record of 91 in 2014.

Nonn says that he expects the number of overdose deaths to reach the top 100 by the end of the year.

"You send an investigator out of the office after a death, and then an hour later you send another investigator to another death," said Nonn.

Nonn says the problem strikes men and women in Madison County … mostly between the ages of 26 and 55.

He tells us that since 2016, fentanyl has become a growing factor in overdose deaths.

Nonn says that there are two reasons behind this: Fentanyl is powerful and profitable.

"You can make 500,000 pills from a kilogram of pure fentanyl from China, 500,000 pills that you can sell for $ 10 a pill … There are a lot of heroin addicts who are thinking about taking Heroine taking fentanyl. The problem is that it's 80 to 100 times more powerful than heroin. "

Nicole Browning of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Olivette is not surprised by Madison County's numbers.

But she is troubled by the trend that they represent.

She tells us that 84% of the fatal fentanyl overdoses in the city and county of St. Louis involved last year.

She says that fighting the overdose epidemic is very difficult.

Browning told us, "There is a lot of effort to be made. We are doing the most work on all sides of this issue. But it's a big problem to solve.

Nonn says that he fights overdoses on three levels: education, law enforcement, and treatment.

"I firmly believe that we will master the situation, but it will take a few more years," says Nonn.

Nonn says that about half of his annual medical budget of $ 240,000 is used for overdose death investigations.

He hopes that his three-pronged approach to tackling the problem will ultimately bear fruit with a significant reduction in the number of overdose deaths.

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