This Is the Indiana County With the Worst Drug Problem

The U.S. has experienced a massive surge in drug addiction, and consequently fatal overdoses, in recent years. In 1999, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported an age-adjusted rate of 6.1 fatal overdoses per 100,000 Americans. By 2019, that figure had more than tripled to 21.6 fatal drug overdoses per 100,000 people.

While this problem has affected every part of the country, certain areas struggle with an outsized share of drug overdose deaths. To determine the county with the worst drug problem in every state, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the annual average number of drug-related deaths per 100,000 residents in all U.S. counties and county equivalents from 2015 to 2019, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Addiction and drug use are complicated and multifaceted issues that touch Americans nationwide and at all socioeconomic levels. Still, the counties that have the worst drug problems tend to have certain characteristics in common, including relatively lower income, higher unemployment, and higher poverty. This is the poorest county in every state.

With an average of 75 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents annually, Indiana’s Fayette County has the highest overdose mortality rate in the state and one of the top 10 in the U.S. Opioid drugs like heroin and fentanyl are the main drivers of fatal drug overdoses. Many people who are addicted to drugs are also diagnosed with other mental disorders, and vice versa. About 15.1% of adults in Fayette County report 14 or more days of poor mental health per month, one of the highest shares in the state.

Fayette County shares similar socioeconomic characteristics with other counties with the highest drug overdose death rate in their state, including significantly higher poverty and unemployment rates than the state as a whole.

As Americans have looked for answers as to how the drug problem in the country has gotten so severe, much of the blame has been placed on large pharmaceutical companies — particularly Purdue Pharma. The company began selling the painkiller OxyContin in 1996. Since then, the company has paid over $10 billion to settle a litany of lawsuits that claimed Purdue deceived patients and doctors about the risks of becoming addicted to the drug when advertising it. These are America’s most hated companies.