More North Carolinians died of opioid overdoses in 2022 than ever before

North Carolina saw record highs in opioid overdose hospitalizations and deaths in 2022.

Some policies enacted in the middle of the last decade had helped to reverse trends from the opioid epidemic. But the pandemic wiped out those gains and contributed to a worsening crisis that continued through last year.

“People were isolated. They weren’t able to use with other people. And so, if you’re using by yourself you’re at a much higher risk of overdose,” said Elizabeth Brewington from the N.C. Council of Churches “The drug supply in North Carolina completely got contaminated. So people were using things that they didn’t know had fentanyl or other products in it.”