As the Covid-19 pandemic grinds into its second year and dominates headlines, another epidemic rages in silence, hardly mentioned in the major media: opioid overdoses. A new study indicates that nationally, emergency department visits for opioid overdoses were up 29% last year. According to the CDC, 81,003 people died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending last June: a 20% increase and the highest annual number of fatal overdoses ever recorded in the U.S.

Vermont is also breaking overdose records: 134 Vermonters died from overdose deaths as of November 2020, compared to 99 deaths in that period the previous year.

Covid-19 is playing a role in this overdose crisis. Isolation, economic turmoil, and stress can all trigger relapse and addiction. At the same time, many support systems and treatment options have become unavailable.

We discuss the overdose crisis and possible solutions, including drug legalization and harm reduction efforts, with Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, anti-poverty and opioid policy advocate Brenda Siegel, Rep. Selene Colburn and Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah Fair George. And we hear about the personal experience of addiction, homelessness and recovery with Jedediah Popp, co-director for the Windham County Consortium on Substance Use, who is in recovery from substance use disorder.