Since the pandemic, overdose deaths are continuing to decline in Michigan. The number is dropping quickly in Metro Detroit. 

There are a lot of possible explanations for the decline. Narcan is more readily available, the state has turned toward a harm-reduction approach, and the pandemic, when people were cooped up inside, is further in the rearview mirror. 

Peer recovery coaches are also a big reason for the reduction. That work received significantly more money from the state in recent years.

What does it look like to create intimacy with someone struggling with addiction, and to help them recover?

Pepper Catt is a peer recovery coach with the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities. That’s a Troy nonprofit. She spoke about all this with The Metro’s Sam Corey. 

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Overdose deaths in Michigan have been declining since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic brought on concerning increase in drug-related fatalities. But, Wayne County’s numbers stayed high until 2024 when it saw overdose deaths decrease by 42%.

Wayne County still leads the state in overdose deaths. Black Michiganders are disproportionately affected, with an overdose rate nearly double that of all other residents.

Accessibility to life-saving Naloxone (aka Narcan) and peer recovery coaches have been cited as a few reasons behind the decreases.

However, experts say keeping people from becoming addicted to opioids has gotten tougher.  

Avani Sheth, the chief medical officer for Wayne County, says drugs like carfentanil pose a challenge for continued overdose prevention.

“The drug supply continues to change and evolve in increasingly dangerous ways.”  

Carfentanil, used to tranquilize large animals like elephants, is 100 times stronger than fentanyl and even small amounts of the drug can be deadly. 

Sheth spoke to The Metro’s Sam Corey about why certain communities experience more deaths, what helps patients navigate recovery, and how expanding resources can help local communities.

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