Accidental drug overdose deaths in New London surged dramatically in 2021, outpacing the statewide increase and prompting local officials to double down on efforts to educate the public about the deadly impact of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

At least 40 people fatally overdosed in the city last year, up 66% from the 24 deaths in 2020, statistics from the state Department of Public Health show. In New London County, there was an 18% increase in the number of overdose deaths, rising from 113 in 2020 to 134 in 2021. There have been 61 deaths so far in the first six month of 2022, including 16 in New London and 18 in Norwich.

There is no known reason for the spike in deaths in New London. The number of overdose deaths in the city, county and state all have been steadily increasing since 2015 and are now the leading cause of accidental death statewide.

Opioids are to blame in an overwhelming number of the deaths and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used for treating severe pain that is illegally manufactured, showed up in 85% of the 1,531 deaths statewide in 2021.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were as estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during a 12-month period ending April, 2021, an increase of 28%.

A really scary time

Trish Rios, a recovery navigator working in New London, said fentanyl is not only showing up in pill form and in the heroin supply but in drugs such as cocaine and even marijuana, and the user may be unaware of its presence.

“It’s just a really scary time out there,” agreed Tammy de la Cruz, the co-founder of Groton-based Community Speaks Out, a group connecting families with treatment and recovery resources.

“Even people not doing heroin or with a chronic substance use disorder can decide to go out take some pills or take some cocaine and it has some fentanyl they don’t know about. Their families don’t have Narcan on hand. That’s a scary situation.”

Naloxone, known as the brand name Narcan, is the opioid reversal drug now carried by many medical first responders and police departments. There is an ongoing effort to make the drug more widely available in the community.

Dr. Ashley Coughlin, a board certified addiction psychiatrist and director of Lawrence + Memorial Hospital’s Intensive Outpatient Psychiatric Services, considers Narcan to be the single most effective effective tool in preventing overdose deaths. She said even though it is available without a prescription, the cost of the drug remains out of reach for many. It’s the reason she has led a push for wider availability.

That sentiment is shared by the New London County CARES team, which facilitates the local overdose task force. The group held a series of events on International Overdose Awareness Day this week, handing out naloxone and educational resources. The group introduced a new initiative, installation of weatherproof boxes containing Narcan to be installed at various locations in New London. The first two will be outside Alliance for Living and another at the headquarters of Ledge Light Health District.

Coughlin, who brings patients together in group therapy sessions, said the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated issues faced by people battling addiction because it led to isolation for some users and made it harder for people to access services. Meanwhile, the drug supply was still available but has come with more risks.

Veterinary drugs such as Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, and Levamisole, which is used to treat parasitic worm infections in animals, are increasingly showing up in the mix of drugs, complicating treatment for an overdose.

“There’s just nasty stuff in the drug supply,” she said.

First responders are also encountering overdose cases where it is taking multiple doses of Narcan to revive a patient, Coughlin said. Other times, more treatment is needed after Narcan is used.

Jennifer Muggeo, the deputy director for Ledge Light Health District and project director for NLC CARES, said people who regularly or occasionally use narcotics probably already know there is no longer any pure heroin available.

“That doesn’t mean they know what they are consuming. There’s no way to know how much fentanyl is in the mix. That makes safe dosing a challenge,” Muggeo said.

The human toll

Rios can also attest to the human toll of the epidemic. She said some people in recovery are struggling financially and with housing. Just this week, Rios said she met with a desperate working mother of a newborn who was in recovery but had been evicted and suddenly found herself homeless. Community Speaks Out was able to temporarily house the woman until a more permanent solution was found.

Community Speaks Out held a event at Ocean Beach Park last week as part of International Overdose Awareness Day, joined by a various recovery groups to emphasis the collaborative effort needed to tackle the problem.

The event also served as a reminder of the lives lost.

Lori Forbes of Oakdale pointed to some of the photos in a collage propped up against a stage at the entrance to the park and immediately broke down in tears when asked who was in the photos. It was her son, Harry Dumond III, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2019 at a sober house in Massachusetts.

She said Dumond, 27, fought for 10 years with his addiction. The collage of photos was surrounded by words written in magic marker: “son, brother, father, best friend, strong, beautiful, smart, unique, funny, charming…”

“He tried. He would tell me ‘Mom, I don’t want to die,’ ” Forbes said.

Dumond is survived by his three young children, two daughters and a son. Forbes called the children “small pieces” of her son.

Dorothy “Dot” Ames of New London, who had at one time struggled with drugs and alcohol, lost her son Anthony in 2018 to acute fentanyl poisoning. Her son was recently out of prison and at a halfway house and had promised to stay clean. The news of her son’s death came on the same month she had been diagnosed with cancer. Rather than collapsing into depression, Ames said she refocused her efforts to educating herself and making a change in the community “one person at a time.”

Ames, who works at the New London Homeless Hospitality Center, said she is focused on the goal of getting people something they really need, “hope.”

The efforts to address the problem also continues in Norwich, which has a collaboration with Reliance Health to employ recovery coaches, part of a larger effort coordinated by a special taskforce.

Erin Haggan, the director of Norwich Youth and Family Services, facilitates the task force and said the city works with numerous partners, such as St. Vincent DePaul Place and Reliance Health, on multiple fronts to get out needed resources.

Part of that effort, she said, is getting information out about the state’s “Good Samaritan Law,” which protects the people that call to report an overdose.

Haggan said people can get nervous if they are using drugs along with the person that has overdosed. The law can save lives if individuals know they won’t be penalized for using or possessing drugs.

When someone does die of a suspected overdose, New London Police Capt. Matthew Galante said a criminal investigation is automatically started. He said officers pursue “any and all investigative leads that may identify those responsible for selling the narcotic to the victim.”

New London Police do not carry Narcan but respond to all overdose calls in the city with the fire department, whose firefighters are the medical first responders and do carry Narcan.

Discussing the increase in fatal overdoses, Muggeo said said she views it not as a spike but “a continuation of the increase that requires us to change the way we talk about substance use,” and remove the stigma for those with substance abuse disorder.

Community Speaks Out Co-Founder Joe de la Cruz said he hopes the public is not getting numb to the situation.

Community Speaks Out has been holding family support meetings since the group formed in 2015 and the number of people attending has dropped even as the number of overdose deaths continue to rise.

“The more deaths, the more used to it people are getting. Now it’s part of life but we don’t feel like it should be that way,” he said.

g.smith@theday.com

Editors note: The chart below has been updated to include the towns of Salem, Sprague, Stonington, Voluntown, and Wateford.