Around 2,000 Michigan residents died from drug overdoses in 2024, the lowest overdose death toll in a decade. But older Black men still bear the brunt of the opioid epidemic, according to preliminary data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Overdose deaths in the state declined by more than 30% from 2023, driven by the first drop in the fatal overdose rate among Black residents in years. Experts said the widespread availability of the overdose-reversing medication Narcan is largely responsible for the trend.
Despite the improvement, Black Michiganians died from overdoses at a rate 2.7 times higher than their White peers — 44.66 deaths per 100,000 residents to 16.42 deaths. And Black men between the ages of 60 and 69 had the highest five-year average rate of fatal overdoses among all groups.
Data Sources
- Opioid data dashboard, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
- 2022 ZCTA (ZIP Code) Substance Use Vulnerability Index Results, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration list of buprenorphine clinics
- Senior overdoses project, Stanford University
- Detroit census tract boundaries