Overdose deaths in Vermont plummeted by 25% in 2025 compared to the year prior, according to preliminary data state health officials released Thursday. This drop, which mirrors national trends, marks the third consecutive year in which fewer Vermonters have died from overdoses.
Despite the sustained decline, overdose deaths remain much higher than they were a decade ago. In 2025, drugs killed 170 Vermonters. That’s more than 2.5 times the number who died in 2014, when then-Gov. Peter Shumlin dedicated the entirety of his State of the State address to the opioid epidemic.
Vermont Health Commissioner Rick Hildebrant said he believes the state’s investments in treatment, harm reduction and prevention are finally beginning to pay off.
“I don't think this is by accident. I don't think this is just a thing that happened. I do think that people's concerted efforts in this field has made a significant difference,” he said.
Researchers are still trying to understand why overdose deaths are trending down, although they’ve hypothesized that expanded access to treatment and the overdose-reversal drug naloxone could be playing a role.
Studies have also pointed to shifts in drug use, as well as a smaller pool of drug users as fewer teens take up drugs to replace those who have already died. Yet another study, published in the journal Science earlier this year, attributes a large portion of the decline to a fentanyl supply shock coming out of China.
The two most common substances involved in overdose deaths in 2025 in Vermont were fentanyl and cocaine. But the state’s data does suggest fentanyl is playing a declining role in fatalities. Deadly overdoses involving the synthetic opioid have fallen sharply as overdoses overall have declined, and last year was the first since at least 2009 where fentanyl-involved deaths were not higher than cocaine-involved deaths.
But Hildebrant said he suspects fentanyl’s diminished role in killing Vermonters is thanks to naloxone — not reductions in its prevalence. He noted data from the state’s drug testing program show that fentanyl remains far and away the most detected substance in illicit drugs.
Vermont’s latest overdose report also underscores the growing role of stimulants, like cocaine and methamphetamine, in overdose deaths. And that shift toward stimulants, Hildebrant said, is among the things that worry him most.
Some of the most effective tools created to deal with opioids — including overdose-reversal drugs and drugs that reduce cravings — don’t work on stimulants.
“The challenges are different, the treatments are different, and we need to be prepared for that,” he said.
Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, called the drop in overdose deaths "encouraging" in a press release announcing the data.
“However, we can’t let our foot off the gas because there’s still more work to be done to help those struggling with addiction,” the governor added. “We’ll continue to invest in proven strategies because overdose deaths have impacted far too many Vermonters and families.”
