Fatal overdoses decline by 35% in Buchanan County in 2025, fewest since 2019
Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Buchanan County recorded a 35% decline in fatal drug overdoses in 2025, the fewest cases going back to 2019 according to county data.
Data provided by the Buchanan County Medical Examiner’s Office shows 20 fatal overdoses were confirmed in 2025. The number marks a 35% decrease from 2024 when 31 fatal overdoses were reported, although cases remain elevated compared to pre-2017 data.
The latest figure also marks the fewest overdose deaths recorded in a year since 2019, when 15 occurred in Buchanan County.
This table shows the number of fatal overdoses each year in Buchanan County going back to 2016, according to data from the Buchanan County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Statewide, data from the CDC indicates Missouri has experienced a 29% decline in fatal overdoses compared to last year, when 1,450 people died as a result of a drug overdose.
Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl continue to make up a large majority of cases statewide and in Buchanan County.
Local authorities began to see a rise in fentanyl and synthetic-opioid-related cases before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, with cases skyrocketing in the years following from 2020 to 2022. The number of fatal overdoses nearly tripled from 15 in 2019 to 42 in 2022.
Cases have gradually declined in the time since, lowering to 28 in 2023 and 20 by 2025, but remain elevated compared to pre-2017 figures. The growing use of Narcan has also played a critical role in fewer overdose deaths.
Since 2016, a total of 221 people in Buchanan County have died of a drug-related overdose.