New data shows ‘alarming’ increase in Kansas children dying connected to fentanyl

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — New data shows an alarming increase in Kansas children dying connected to drugs.

The new data released this month focuses on kids 0 to 17. It shows nearly 400 children died in ’20-’22 from drug-related deaths.

The addiction started for Kodie Miller with prescription painkillers at 13 years old.

“I think younger people they don’t — I don’t want to take away from people’s experience, but when I was young, I was impressionable,” he said. “I was more ignorant and naive to the consequences of what could happen to my life.”

As he got older, he took other drugs, including fentanyl.

“You don’t think about anything other than getting your next fix or getting your next high. You know that it’s possible for you to overdose. You know it’s possible to lose your life, but you don’t put that at the forefront of your mind,” Miller said.

New numbers show an increase in Kansas kids dying from drug-related overdoses. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter says his experience backs up the data.

“Small children such as toddlers have grabbed hold of them, and we know toddlers are going to put everything in their mouth, and they’ve overdosed and died, and I think there’s been two of them here this year,” Easter said.

According to a recent report by the state Child Death Review Board, Kansas recorded 389 child fatalities in 2022, an increase from 349 in 2021. That’s an overall child death rate of 56.3 deaths per 100,000 population.

Easter says fentanyl is not a drug that you know what you’re getting.

“If a doctor didn’t prescribe it to you or your parents didn’t give it to you, then do not take it because you don’t know what it is,” Easter said.

Miller knows there is hope for people looking to get clean and sober.

“You can still recover your life and become a normal person and feel normal and not feel depressed; you can do things and get into programs to not carry all the guilt with you,” Miller said. “It’s definitely possible to get your life back.”

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