Although opioid-related overdose deaths in the state dropped below 1,000 individuals in 2025 for the first time since 2013, according to preliminary data released last week, the number of fatal overdoses in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region remained level when comparing data from 2024 and 2025.
In Massachusetts, 978 people died from opioid-related overdoses in 2025, meaning someone died approximately every nine hours. This represents a roughly 27% decrease from 2024, according to Massachusetts Department of Public Health data that was released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, no decrease was seen in Franklin County or the North Quabbin region, local experts say. Twelve people died from opioid-related overdoses in 2024 and the same number died in 2025, according to data provided by the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region. However, the number still represents a 75% decline from a peak of 48 deaths in 2021.
“We have seen a 62.5% decline [in opioid-related overdose deaths] between 2023 and 2025 — still too many deaths. When we look historically, since the task force was created, 304 people have died in our rural region since 2012,” explained Deb McLaughlin, coordinator of the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region. “Clearly, this crisis has taken a real toll in our rural region. … I just want to emphasize that behind every number is a person, and a family who has lost a loved one. We’ve had 24 deaths in the past two years, which are 24 deaths too many.”
Sarah Ahern, recovery and harm reduction coordinator at Choice Recovery Coaching, said that statewide, harm reduction has played a huge role in limiting the number of overdose deaths. She said overdoses are still happening, but that people who overdose are “dying less frequently,” in part due to use of naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, which can stop overdoses before they become fatal.
Since 2021, 6,000 naloxone kits have been distributed across Franklin County, according to McLaughlin. This includes “50 or so” public pickup spots where anyone can grab a kit. Plus, naloxone is available at certain pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS in Greenfield.
“Harm reduction encompasses a lot of things, which includes accessibility to naloxone. It’s way more accessible than it ever has been,” Ahern said. “It’s over the counter now. People can go to the pharmacy and not have to feel any certain way. … Massachusetts is very lucky, we have drug-checking capabilities through Brandeis University, so harm-reduction entities know what’s on the ground. There’s a lot of adulterants in the drug supply.”
An adulterant is something that is added to the supply of drugs that lowers the purity of the drug or its quality. This could be something like fentanyl, xylazine or another harmful stimulant that increases the fatality of the drug it’s been added to. While data for 2025 has not yet been released by the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, in 2024, 87.5% of all opioid-related overdose deaths had a toxicology screening done postmortem, and 88.6% of these screenings showed fentanyl in the individual’s system.
In Franklin and Hampshire counties, Tapestry, an organization whose mission is to “provide vital, effective, inclusive community health services and resources,” according to its website, offers drug testing at its harm-reduction sites, including at 40 School St. in Greenfield. If someone wants a sample tested, it has to be the size of a grain of rice, and Tapestry will test it to see if it has been mixed with an adulterant. Katy Lessard, program manager at Tapestry, said this is another aspect of harm reduction that has led to the decrease in opioid-related overdose deaths.
“We’re able to say, ‘Safely use this bag,’ or ‘Use with caution,'” Lessard said. “It gives somebody the choice if they want to use that sample. I think that’s another reason that lowered the overdoses as well, knowing what’s in their drug supply.”
Medicaid cuts that are slated to take effect at the start of 2027 are on the minds of those who provide help to individuals suffering from substance use disorder. Ahern said that because of the loss of federal funding through Medicaid, local and rural hospitals will be the first to feel the effects, and Franklin County will absorb a lot of damage.
“Anything that’s Medicaid-billable will be under extreme scrutiny,” Ahern said. “Anything that reduces access to healing, whatever that looks like for you, is problematic. … The landscape is getting pretty frightening, mainly from the [federal government] situation.”
McLaughlin said it’s still unclear how those diagnosed with substance use disorder will be affected by the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Based on projections, I think there is a huge concern about the number of people that are going to be losing Medicaid, particularly because of the changes in the Medicaid requirements,” McLaughlin said. “One of the things that we’ve been tracking is … what impact that’s going to have on their Medicaid eligibility if they are unable to work.
“This is a team sport,” McLaughlin continued. “We can’t do this alone.”
