Cook County sees record 2,000 opioid overdose deaths in 2022; Chicago activists seek harm reduction

CHICAGO (WLS) -- After losing a loved one to drug use, Vincent Lee knows all too well the price of opioid addiction.

"He used periodically, and his last one was his last one," Lee said.

Lee's 50-year-old first cousin is among the scores of victims of accidental opioid overdoses involving fentanyl.

"They are putting fentanyl in the cocaine, getting people twice as addicted," Lee said.

The man's passing comes as the Cook County medical examiner confirmed a record 2,000 opioid overdose deaths in 2022.

According to the office, approximately 78% of opioid overdose deaths are male.

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More than half of the victims are African American. And while just over 70% of the overdose deaths were in the city of Chicago, more than 91% of opioid overdose deaths involve fentanyl, which is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

That's why state Rep. LaShawn Ford joined a community of drug treatment advocates on the city's West Side to sound the alarm.

He's introduced House Bill 2, which would establish an overdose prevention site program.

"If an individual overdoses, someone will save they life," Ford said.

Ongoing efforts include delivering harm reduction services by providing Narcan dispensers and fentanyl test strips, among other things.

"This outreach team and the work we have done together, have trained over 20K out here, and given out twice as many doses of Narcan," said Lee Rush, with the West Side Heroin/Opioid Taskforce.

Despite that, some members of the outreach organizations, like Chicago Recovery Alliance said the crisis seems to be getting worse, especially with the arrival of Xylazine, an animal sedative the group said it's found while testing the safety of drugs for users.

"In my opinion, based on what I see every day, it has gotten worse," said Pier Moore, with the Chicago Recovery Alliance.

Those in the fight against opioid addiction say as long as the West Side remains an epicenter of the crisis, they are going to continue to double and triple their efforts in this fight.