Death rates in Connecticut from two types of opioids, synthetics like the powerful painkiller fentanyl and naturally-derived opiates (heroin), are among the highest in the country, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2015, 211 deaths in the state were attributed to synthetic drugs, up from 94  in 2014. That translates to a 6.1 death rate in 2015 — 6.1 deaths  per 100,000 residents — and 2.7 the previous year. The 125.9 percent increase was second only to New York’s 135.7 percent in the CDC study.

States With The Highest Synthetic-Opioid Death Rate (2015)

Rate is deaths per 100,000 residents.

  1. New Hampshire 24.1 percent
  2. Massachusetts 14.4
  3. Rhode Island 13.2
  4. West Virginia 12.7
  5. Ohio 11.4
  6. Maine 9.9
  7. Connecticut 6.1
  8. Maryland 5.8
  9. Vermont 5.6
  10. Tennessee 4.0

Connecticut also had one of the biggest increases in heroin deaths, with 390 in 2015 that followed 299 deaths in 2014.  The 27 percent change increase — to an 11.3 death rate, up from 8.9 percent — was the 11th-highest in the CDC study. (Ohio’s heroin death rate, at 13.3 percent, was the highest in the country in 2015.)

States With The Highest Heroin Death Rate (2015)

Rate is deaths per 100,000 residents.

  1. Ohio 13.3
  2. West Virginia 11.8
  3. Connecticut 11.3
  4. Massachusetts 9.6
  5. New Mexico 8.1
  6. Illinois 6.7
  7. Maryland 6.6
  8. New Hampshire 6.5
  9. New York 5.5
  10. Wisconsin/Missouri (tie) 5.3

For more information about addiction treatment and services, please visit the Rushford website.