NEW ORLEANS — Drug deaths in New Orleans rose by more than one-third last year and were more than five times the number in 2015. The powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl was involved in the vast majority, Coroner Dwight McKenna said in a news release Wednesday.
He said fentanyl was involved in 94% of the deaths for which lab results were available. Many of those people also had taken cocaine or amphetamines.
“The fact that 94% of overdose cases are linked to fentanyl shows our community faces a crisis that grows more severe each year," he said. In 2020, he said, 78% of the bodies tested positive for the drug.
“Fentanyl is regularly being cut into cocaine and street pills," McKenna said. "Because of fentanyl, using street drugs in this day and age is like playing Russian roulette."
McKenna said drugs killed 492 people in New Orleans last year, up from 365 in 2020. Earlier news releases show the total was 92 in 2015. For the next three years, the total averaged about 213, rising in 2019 to 241.
Lab results were available for 462 of last year's drug deaths, while medical record reviews kept 30 sets of records secret, McKenna said.
He said 60% tested positive for cocaine in 2021, up from 40% in 2020. Amphetamines were found in 20% of the 2021 bodies for which data was available — close to the previous year's 18%.
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