Connecticut continues to see a downward trend in accidental drug intoxication deaths, officials said.
According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, this is the second year in a row the state has seen a decrease. In 2022, CT saw a 5% decrease in accidental drug intoxication deaths and an 8% decrease in 2023. There were 1,452 accidental drug intoxications in 2022 and 1,329 in 2023.
Fentanyl remains the dominant drug among accidental intoxication deaths and was detected in 85% of fatalities. The number of deaths involving fentanyl decreased from 1,253 in 2022 to 1,124 in 2023. Xylazine has also decreased from 351 deaths in 2022 to 286 in 2023. In addition, four deaths involved a group of novel synthetic opioids known as nitazenes. Accidental deaths involving heroin have also continued to decrease, according to a press release.
But despite the positive trend downward, drug deaths involving cocaine increased from 684 in 2022 to 724 deaths in 2023.
“The cocaine increase may be related to the combined use of fentanyl and cocaine. It is possible that people who believe they were buying cocaine were actually receiving a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl,” the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said.
For the deaths with cocaine, 87% also involved fentanyl and 55% of the deaths involving fentanyl had cocaine.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
