Drugs collected during October 2023 event. (Photo courtesy Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office)
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Coroner Dr. Janine Darby announced today a significant decrease in overdose deaths in Montgomery County in 2024, with the total number of people losing their lives to overdose falling from 190 in 2023 to 139 in 2024—a level not seen since 2011’s total of 126 overdose deaths.
The nearly 27 percent drop from calendar year 2023 to 2024 is the steepest decline yet from a peak of 257 overdose deaths in 2020. The overdose death totals for the years are:
Since Steele was elected District Attorney, he has made fighting the opioid epidemic and the attendant overdose deaths one of his main priorities. To that end, the DA’s Office, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and all of law enforcement have worked together to go after drug traffickers who are peddling their poison in Montgomery County, worked with the county to equip all police cars with the lifesaving opioid reversal drug naloxone, placed MedReturn boxes in nearly all police departments in the county in order to collect unwanted prescription and over-the-county medications from residents and organized Drug Take Back
Days twice a year, collecting more than 131,000 pounds of unwanted medications since the program began in 2010.
“Far too many families in Montgomery County have suffered the unbearable loss of having a loved one die from overdose. We have worked hard to try to save lives and families, and while I’m happy to see the overdose deaths go down significantly in 2024, it’s still too many families who have lost a loved one,” said Steele. “The entire law enforcement community will keep up our multitude of efforts to try to save even more lives.”
"As Coroner, I see firsthand the toll that overdose deaths take on families. This decline is encouraging, but every loss is still one too many,” said Darby. “We must continue working together—through education, prevention, and support—to save lives and keep this momentum going"
Other contributors to the falling overdose death rate could be the changing nature of street drugs. Nationally, the DEA has said that its tests have shown that the potency of fentanyl pills coming from Mexican cartels has fallen, from seven out of 10 having a deadly dose to five out of 10. Additionally, in Montgomery County, there is an increase in other street drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine.
The next Drug Take Back Day is coming up—scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Thirty-eight locations in Montgomery County will be collecting prescription and over-the-counter medicines from residents. A complete list of drop-off locations can be found at www.montgomerycountypa.gov/da.
