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Rhode Island Sees First Drop in Drug Fatalities Since 2019

rredick August 13, 2024
Photo credit: Alexander Castro/ Rhode Island Current

For the first time in four years, Rhode Island’s rate of substance-related deaths fell in 2023. It was a long-hoped-for turn around in a state suffering, like so many others, from the lethal effects of the opioid epidemic. While sustaining and building on this success will no doubt be a challenge, the state is committing greater resources than ever to the response to SUD—including making access to Allies in Recovery free to all.

It’s just one year. Nobody in the field of addiction care is breaking out the champagne. But the fact that substance-related deaths in Rhode Island dropped by 7.3% in 2023 compared to 2022 was the news many were hoping for.

It was the first such decline in four years, and it comes after enormous spikes in fatalities (almost 20% each year) in 2020 and 2021, largely driven by the synthetic opioid fentanyl and its wide penetration into street drugs. It also comes after significant investments in addiction care by both the state and private entitites.

“Addiction is a disease and recovery is possible,” said Richard Leclerc, director of the Rhode Island Department Of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) and co-chair of the Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force. While noting that much more needs to be done, he also highlighted the state’s “multi-faceted approach to saving lives.”

Making access to Allies in Recovery free for all residents has been part of that approach. Rhode Island now joins Massachusetts, New Mexico, Mississippi, and various smaller geographic areas in this great investment in the health of its families. In total, some 13 million people now have free access to the CRAFT training, person-to-person guidance, blogs, podcasts, peer support and other resources Allies provides. We’re proud to be making a difference for those with Loved Ones struggling with SUD, in Rhode Island and right around the world.

Accidental overdose deaths in R.I. down 7.3% in 2023, marking first decline in four years

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