Kansas City Area Drug-Involved Death Information
On this page, you will find reports on Kansas City Area (Cass, Clay, Platte, and Jackson Counties) drug-involved deaths based on information received from the corresponding Medical Examiners’ offices. If you have any additional questions about this information, please reach out to our team at nomodeaths@mimh.edu.
Kansas City Area Drug-Involved Death Report
January - December 2024
Please take a look at the interactive version of the report here.
This data comes from the Cass, Clay, Platte and Jackson County Medical Examiners’ Offices and includes deaths where the initial incident occurred within each County.
For more information on what data is included and how drug-involved deaths are defined, please visit the Data FAQ Sheet on our website:
httP-s://www.mimhaddisci.org/missouri-overdose-data-2
Summary points:
The total number of drug-involved deaths within the four Greater Kansas City, MO counties was 402, marking a decrease of 10%, in 2024.
In Jackson County, deaths involving stimulants increased by 4% in 2024, with a more notable 14% rise in deaths involving both stimulants and opioids. This contrasts with decreases in opioid-involved deaths (-4%) and fentanyl-involved deaths, specifically (-8%), compared to 2023.
Seniors age 65 and older saw a concerning 94% increase in drug-involved deaths in Jackson County in 2024 (35 deaths), while most other age groups saw modest declines. All reported demographic groups in Jackson County saw decreases in drug-involved deaths in 2024, except for Black males, who experienced an 11% increase (from 73 to 81 deaths).
Kansas City Area Drug-Involved Death Report
January - June 2024
This data comes from the Cass, Clay, Platte and Jackson County Medical Examiners’ Offices and includes deaths where the initial incident occurred within each County.
For more information on what data is included and how drug-involved deaths are defined, please visit the Data FAQ Sheet on our website:
httP-s://www.mimhaddisci.org/missouri-overdose-data-2
Summary Points from Kansas City Area Drug-Involved Death Report January-June 2024
Drug-involved deaths across these counties decreased by 11% in the first six months of 2024 compared to the first six months of 2023.
Trends in the Kansas City area are largely influenced by the number of drug involved deaths in Jackson County.
Fentanyl continues to saturate the opioid drug supply, present in 88% of all opioid-involved deaths.
Deaths involving both opioids and stimulants increased by 12% in the first six months of 2024 compared to 2023.
Click here for a PDF version of the document.
Kansas City Area Drug-Involved Death Report
January -December 2023
KANSAS CITY AREA: CASS, CLAY, PLATTE & JACKSON COUNTIES
This data comes from the Cass, Clay, Platte and Jackson County Medical Examiners' Offices and includes deaths where the initial incident occurred within each county.
For more information on what data is included and how drug-involved deaths are defined, please visit the Data FAQ Sheet on our website:
httP-s://www.mimhaddisci.org/missouri-overdose-data-2
Summary Points from Kansas City Area Drug-Involved Death Report January-December 2023
The total number of drug-involved deaths within Jackson County decreased by 7% in 2023 compared to 2022.
The number of drug-involved deaths in Jackson County is driving the trends in the Kansas City area.
Fentanyl is present in about half of the opioid-involved deaths within these counties.
Despite increases in the presence of xylazine in other parts of the state, the number of deaths involving xylazine was less than 1% within these counties in 2023.
