Fentanyl involved in 90% of Cook County opioid deaths last year: officials

'Stigma Crusher' program aims to prevent opioid overdoses

The Stigma Crusher is cruising into West Chicago in DuPage County. It's a mobile outreach program designed to prevent opioid overdoses and get people the care they need.

COOK COUNTY, Ill. - Opioid overdose deaths in Cook County last year are expected to match 2022's record, according to health officials.

While hundreds of toxicology tests from 2023 are still pending, county officials said they have confirmed 1,540 opioid overdose deaths in the last year. Fentanyl was involved in 90 percent of those deaths.

The Cook County medical examiner's office expects over 400 of its pending toxicology tests will come back as overdoses. Roughly 80 percent of opioid overdose victims were male, according to the office.

African-Americans represented more than half of the county's overdose death at 56 percent.

In 2022, Chicago recorded 2,001 opioid overdose deaths, more than three times as many as were recorded seven years prior. Here's a year-by-year breakdown of Cook County opioid overdose deaths:

2023 - 1,540*
2022 - 2,001
2021 - 1,938
2020 - 1,847
2019 - 1,295
2018 - 1,170
2017 - 1,167
2016 - 1,081
2015 - 647

*Data still being tabulated

Cook County homicides in 2023

There were 828 homicides in Cook County last year, a decrease of 14 percent compared to 2022. Chicago accounted for nearly 80 percent of homicides in the county.

There were 92 homicide victims under the age of 18 and 15 of those were under the age of 10, officials said.

Cook County homicides broken down by year: