Drug deaths are going down in Travis County for the first time since 2019, according to the medical examiner’s report. Total drug deaths decreased 22% from 2023 to 2024, and deaths involving fentanyl fell by 36%. The numbers were released Monday and are a stark difference from last year’s report, which revealed the highest rate of accidental overdoses ever recorded in Travis County.
“This has truly been a community wide effort,” Travis County Judge Andy Brown said. “While we still have a long way to go, this drop in overdose deaths shows us that the strategies we’ve implemented are not only working but saving lives.” Over the past four years, Travis County has spent nearly $5 million on tackling the opioid overdose crisis.
County organizations have distributed more than 36,000 doses of Narcan to the community. The overdose reversal drug is stocked in bars, ambulances and public vending machines. The county has trained more than 1,000 community members on how to recognize the signs of an overdose and perform life-saving care. It has also launched public education campaigns and methadone treatment services.
Chief Robert Luckritz of Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services said EMS officers started following up on every single overdose call to offer Narcan kits, overdose prevention education and recovery options.
Maggie Luna, the executive director of the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA), said the nonprofit reversed more than 300 overdoses in 2024 with Narcan.
“We’ve reversed overdoses at bus stops, on sidewalks, in encampments, she said. “We’ve distributed Narcan. We’ve hosted trainings. We’ve helped hundreds access housing, mental health care, substance use treatment and medical care. This is what happens when community and government work together, not in silos but in solidarity.”
Most of the funding Travis County leaders have put toward ending the opioid epidemic has come from a national settlement with producers of opiates. But many nonprofits providing services rely on COVID-19 era federal grants that are on shaky ground after the Trump Administration announced it would cut nearly $11.4 billion in grants for addiction and mental health services.
Luna said the progress the county has made in lowering fatal drug overdoses could be at risk if local organizations lose funding. “The reality is without sustained and increased investment, this progress is at risk,” Luna said. “We’re facing a federal funding crisis.”
