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Michigan is reducing drug overdose rates, but racial disparities are a concern

Anna Rossow
| Capital Intelligence Service

As the opioid crisis continues to plague the U.S., Michigan's overdose rate has declined in recent years.

Health officials and lawmakers are addressing the crisis by expanding access to life-saving medications and increasing support for substance use disorder treatment.

Michigan has a lower overdose rate than the national average: the statewide rate per 100,000 residents was 31.5, while the state rate was 28.2.

“Since the end of the pandemic, these numbers have declined both nationally and in Michigan, but Michigan is doing much better than the national trend,” said Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical officer. “We are seeing the decline nationally, but our decline has been steeper.”

According to the state Department of Health, overdose deaths were 2,826 in 2023, down from 3,096 in 2021.

But Bagdasarian pointed to large racial disparities in overdoses and said the decline was primarily among white Michigan residents.

While in 2023 the state's overall overdose rate was 28.2 per 100,000 residents, the rate for white residents was 22.6 and for Black residents it was 64.5.

“One of the priorities is to ensure that we make these tools available to the most affected communities. “It’s also very important to understand how dangerous the drug supply is in different communities,” Bagdasarian said.

She leads the Michigan Opioid Task Force, which was formed in 2022. The group includes staff from several state departments working to prevent substance abuse and make treatment more accessible.

She said the response to opioids rests on four pillars: prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. Administering Narcan is part of harm reduction.

Naloxone, the generic name for Narcan, is a highly effective life-saving drug that reverses overdoses.

Gary Wadaga, director of Bay Ambulance in Baraga and a paramedic for 43 years, said his service used to receive two calls a month about drug overdoses and that number has dropped to one.

He said: “I strongly believe that the number of calls regarding overdoses from opiates, which includes heroin, is large. “The number of our calls has decreased significantly since Narcan has become more readily available.”

Wadaga said all paramedics carry Narcan with them and also have extra Narcan to leave with the patient or family in case of a future emergency.

“The scary thing is that the opiate can outlast the effects of Narcan,” Wadaga said. “If they are properly charged and given Narcan, they can pretty quickly return to the state they were in before Narcan was administered.”

Bibhas Singia, the vice president and medical director of hospital and residential services at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, said Narcan will only reverse opioid overdoses, not all medications.

The organization has clinics in the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Hastings, Holland and Traverse City areas.

In an overdose, Singia said, there is too much opioid in the brain. It suppresses the part of the brain that signals the chest to breathe, and breathing stops when this signal is suppressed.

“What Narcan does is it gets into the blood, gets into the brain and then dissolves the opioid that's stuck to the receptors and then reverses the respiratory depressant activity of the opioid – and people can breathe again,” Singia said.

According to the Ministry of Health, laws to improve access to naloxone are currently being reviewed.

Experts say those who survive an overdose can have long-term mental and physical health problems.

Physically, Singia said, an overdose can permanently damage parts of the brain, which can lead to a stroke later in life. It can also have harmful effects on the cardiovascular system and cause permanent damage to the heart muscles.

Psychologically, Singia said, people may have a different mindset if they survive an overdose. Some may see it as a wake-up call and decide to accept help and participate in support groups. Others may experience symptoms of depression and a feeling of helplessness.

“I also don’t want us to miss the very important impact of an overdose on family members, the community and society,” he said

“When someone unfortunately dies from an overdose, it has an extreme psychological impact on their loved ones, their family members and their community. Even if they survive, it can still lead to feelings of fear, anxiety, depression and worry for their loved ones.”

Bagdasarian said prevention and recovery efforts have caused the rate to drop across the state. This includes educating young people about drug abuse.

She said the earlier in life people try drugs, the more likely they are to develop a substance use disorder later in life.

For treatment, she said, the task force tries to ensure access to resources such as medication, transportation and housing. This also includes ensuring that facilities that care for people with these disorders have sufficient staff.

She said reducing overdoses and improving recovery happens “by listening to people who deal with this issue every day, working directly with clients and people with life experience from all communities across the state.”

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