Missouri overdose deaths decline as Naloxone access and youth education makes impact

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- Since the integration and expanded education surrounding Naloxone, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, overdose-related deaths in Missouri have declined.

According to the Preliminary 2025 Missouri Statewide Drug Overdose Death Report, 629 people in Missouri died from drug overdoses in the first six months of 2025. In Northwest Missouri, 23 overdose deaths were reported during the same period.

Frank Till, executive director of the St. Joseph Safety Council, said one of the major contributing factors to the decreasing overdose deaths in Missouri is the availability of Naloxone.

“The first six months of 2025, there were another 1.3 million doses available. Now you even have Narcan vending machines available," Till said. "I think that's a major factor as to why people, fortunately, are not dying as much from these overdoses."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Naloxone can reverse an overdose from opioids—including fentanyl, heroin and prescription opioid medications—when given in time. Narcan, the brand name for Naloxone, is also commonly available.

Shawn Collie, commander of the Special Operations Division at the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, said overdoses are becoming less frequent, not only due to the increased availability of Naloxone, but also due to the education across the state.

“I would say yes, there are no numbers probably, Collie said. “I think with us getting that out on the streets and within our community, that is helping save lives.”

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Fentanyl continues to be the primary cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. 

In Missouri, fentanyl was involved in almost all 88% of opioid overdose deaths.

Collie said the Special Operations Division works with multiple law enforcement agencies to target fentanyl distribution.

"We have those agencies federally, to identify outside our area and outside our country, to try to stop the import of drugs into our communities," Collie said. "With that education and prevention, there's always going to be a supply and demand. We can try to educate our public and end those addictions and the demand for that."

Collie said the Special Operations Division has worked to take a large amount of drugs off the street, but for every person arrested for drug trafficking, others may take their place.

"I feel like we did make a significant impact. A lot of the times, what people don’t understand is that it may not just be right here in St. Joe," Collie said. "The investigation we have in St. Joe may have led us to helping somebody in Kansas City, Saint Louis, Chicago, some of the bigger cities where a lot of drugs come into originally and then broken down into smaller amounts and put out into our communities. I think we're always making progress. It's just make progress on a personal level first."

Till said the Safety Council also worked with multiple agencies in the community to educate the youth on the usage of drugs and provide assistance for people struggling with drug usage.

"We just join together in any way we can. We do a lot of safety fairs out in the community, as requested, usually from schools. We go out and educate people on a number of topics, and drug overdoses is one of those," Till said. "We do drug and alcohol classes here for people that have been arrested for drug and alcohol-related driving offenses. We offer counseling and treatment through our programs here for those people suffering those problems."

Collie said his division is also working to continue to educate youth at an early age due to children experimenting with drugs.

"Obviously, we have to adjust to make sure that our youth are understanding the concepts. We try to work with the school district, St. Joe Youth Alliance, the health department to create criteria or educational programs that are best suited for the age groups we're talking to," Collie said. "A lot of it is just those schools getting into those different programs to let them see us law enforcement and trying to build that trust and the education side comes along with it."

Till agreed, noting that the more the youth are informed on the dangers of drugs, the more likely they are not to fall into the experimental stage.

"We know that these types of opioids and synthetic opioids are very, very addictive from the very first time. If we can prevent young people from even trying them, and hopefully we can change the path of our future as far as it goes with overdose deaths," Till said.

The St. Joseph Health Department and Family Guidance Center offer free Naloxone to anyone who needs it.

Tune into KQ2 News at 6 p.m. for this Special Report.