CHICAGO — The Chicago area has witnessed a significant reduction in fentanyl-related fatalities, but some advocates caution that this positive trend should not lead to complacency.
Data from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office indicates that the county is on pace to record fewer than 1,000 fentanyl deaths this year, marking the first time this has happened since 2018.
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Despite this encouraging development, Monica Reeves, a mother from the suburbs who lost her daughter to fentanyl poisoning, is urging families to remain vigilant.
Tiffany Reeves, Monica’s daughter, was only 27 years old when she succumbed to fentanyl poisoning. Monica recalls that she sensed something was wrong even before receiving the tragic news.
“My daughter’s gone. I just felt it,” Monica revealed.
Tiffany’s death in 2022 left a lasting impact on her family, and Monica shared with the I-Team that her sorrow is still raw.
“She wanted to have a baby. She really wanted to be a mom. She was just 27. We lost out on everything because someone decided to poison our children,” Reeves said.
Fentanyl related deaths are on a downward trend in Cook County from their peak in 2022 at more than 1,800. Deputy Commissioner and Medical Director of Behavioral Health for Chicago Department of Public Health Dr. Jenny Hua said the city is also moving in the right direction, on track for fewer than 1,000 opioid deaths this year.
“We knew what it was like when we did not have this infrastructure in place, right? And that’s when we just kept seeing the numbers climb year after year, said Hua.
Nationally, there has also been a downward trend.
But, Lori Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said there are some states and communities that are not experiencing a decrease and are instead seeing a surge of fatal and nonfatal overdoses.
While the Chicago area sees reductions in fentanyl deaths, that is not the case in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and South Dakota, where opioid-related deaths are seeing an uptick as of earlier this year, according to data from the CDC.
Freeman said a mix of factors including access to rescue drugs and aggressive outreach programs can mean the difference in fatalities. She is worried about funding and what will or will not come from the current federal administration to support harm reduction.
“We had a lot of investment, a lot of targeted investment that was put towards strategies that led to some of these significant overdose decreases,” she explained.
Reeves said more than 500 lives claimed from the drug year-to-date, based on preliminary Cook County data, is still astronomical. That is why she and others are part of a national campaign placing billboards through the organization Rachel’s Angels to keep Tiffany’s memory alive and those of others who have died from the drug.
“We all have a different story, but all our kids were poisoned,” said Reeves.
Compounding the problem, the influx of the lethal drug to the Chicago area and country has not stopped.
Ahmad Dinah, 30, was charged this month with drug trafficking in Naperville. DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said, “The amount of fentanyl Mr. Dinah allegedly possessed is enough to kill entire cities.”
Dinah’s lawyer has not responded to the I-Team for comment.
Fentanyl seizures year-to-date are up 90% in powder form and up 33% in pill form in the Chicago area, according to the DEA Chicago Field Division.
And there are other large DEA seizures recently across the country. Just this week in Colorado, the largest fentanyl stash in state history and the sixth largest in U.S. history was found in an auctioned storage container.
Reeves is hoping no other parent has to experience the heartbreaking grief of losing a child, but she says every day, there are more victims joining the list of Rachel’s Angels.
“All these angels are just numbers. They all matter. They’re all beautiful. All of them,” said Reeves.
Click here for more information on Rachel’s Angels.
