While much of the country finally saw overdose deaths start to dip, Denver went the other way. The city logged 515 drug overdose deaths in 2025 and a sharp rise in fentanyl-related fatalities, according to preliminary city figures. Homeless residents and people with limited access to treatment are carrying a disproportionate share of that loss.
Preliminary city numbers
Early counts from the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner indicate the city recorded 515 total drug overdose deaths last year, a 7% increase over 2024, and roughly a 24% jump in fatal overdoses involving fentanyl, according to Axios. Fentanyl was involved in about two-thirds of those deaths in 2025. Officials stress the numbers are still preliminary while toxicology work and case reviews are completed, but the trend line is already clear.
What the city is doing
The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment has been ramping up prevention work in response, putting naloxone and fentanyl test strips in libraries and other community spaces and steering new funding toward programs that speed access to treatment, the agency says. Denver Public Health reports that tens of thousands of naloxone doses and test strips have gone out since 2022. City-backed efforts such as Roads to Recovery have connected roughly 300 people with intensive case management and treatment services, local reporting shows, according to Denverite.
Supply shock masks local differences
Nationally, provisional data and news coverage pointed to a drop in overdose deaths through most of 2025, but that apparent good news has not played out evenly across cities. Reporting by AP and a study summarized by Carnegie Mellon trace the national decline to a disruption in the global illicit fentanyl supply, likely tied to restrictions on precursor chemicals, that started pushing death rates down in mid-2023. The researchers warn that such supply shocks are often temporary and say this window should be used to build out treatment and harm-reduction services before the market adjusts.
Who’s being hit hardest
On Denver’s streets, the burden has fallen heavily on people without stable housing. A recent Metro Denver count and follow-up reporting found that overdose is the leading cause of death for people experiencing homelessness in the city, with fentanyl involved in most of those cases, according to The Colorado Sun. Advocates point to a highly contaminated, unregulated drug supply and persistent barriers to consistent treatment as key reasons Denver has bucked the national trend. Harm-reduction groups are pushing for more on-site drug checking, wider naloxone access, and low-barrier medication for opioid use disorder.
What officials are asking
City overdose-prevention coordinator Ally Arnaiz has called on residents to respond with compassion and to back stronger access to naloxone, drug-checking tools, and treatment, Axios reports. Colorado law already includes 911 Good Samaritan protections and a third-party naloxone statute that shields people who call for help or administer naloxone in good faith, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE). Officials say that even as the national supply situation offers a bit of breathing room, Denver needs fast investment in treatment slots, street outreach, and real-time drug checking if it hopes to hold onto any of those gains.
