Drug & Alcohol Rehab For Kendallville, Indiana

Kendallville, Indiana is just a 40-minute drive north of Fort Wayne, located within the Wayne Township of Noble County, near the juncture of Interstate 6 and Lima Road. The city of just over 10,000 inhabitants enjoys a tranquil lifestyle, surrounded by miles of northern Indiana’s beautiful rural landscape. And while the median household income in Kendallville falls well below average in Indiana, residents enjoy an affordable cost of living compared to Fort Wayne and other nearby cities in the region. Additionally, Kendallville boasts a poverty rate of just 7.9%, far below the statewide poverty rate of 12.3%. [1]

Despite the lush greenery of the parks, the city’s popular windmill museum, and the relative economic stability compared to other cities in the area, Kendallville has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for many years. Overdose deaths have risen over the past few years, reaching unprecedented peaks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the most recent data, marijuana, meth, and alcohol are the most commonly abused substances in Kendallville. The city also sees the abuse of other substances, such as prescription opioids, cocaine, and heroin.

Continue reading to learn about substance abuse and addiction in Kendallville, Indiana. And remember, if you or a loved one are fighting addiction in Kendallville or the surrounding area, you can always reach out to Addiction Rehab Centers for help.

Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Kendallville

Like most smaller cities in Indiana, Kendallville does not manage its own substance abuse data. Since the population of Wayne Township is only slightly larger than that of Kendallville (10,239 in Kendallville and 10,929 in Wayne Township), substance abuse data is not handled by the township’s local administrators either. Instead, both municipalities depend on Noble County for support, which is common practice throughout Indiana.

Unfortunately, this practice does muddy the data available for Kendallville, as the data is combined with other nearby towns and cities in the county, such as Ligonier (pop. 4,568) and Avilla (pop. 2,401). However, Kendallville is the largest city in the county, accounting for roughly 21.5% of Noble County residents. It’s also important to note that as much as 40% of substance abuse arrests and overdoses in the county originate in Kendallville, so evaluating the county-level data is one of the best ways to evaluate the current addiction crisis at the city level.

Overdose deaths are often the first component analyzed when determining the severity of a substance abuse epidemic. However, this doesn’t mean that overdose deaths are the only figure that matters. Moreover, in smaller communities like Kendallville and Noble County, fatal overdoses are less common. That said, fatal overdoses have risen at an alarming rate since the data became available in 2016. [2] The table below shows how deaths involving all drugs (including alcohol) have changed in the area over the past few years:

*Data for 2023 and 2024 is provisional and only accounts may be subject to change.

Between 2016 and 2018, the number of fatal overdoses in Noble County dropped from 6 per year to just 1 per year. However, deaths began to rise again in 2019, and by 2021, annual overdose deaths peaked at 14. The county saw a small decline to 12 deaths in 2022. This means that annual overdose deaths doubled between 2016 and 2022 (the most recent year with finalized data).

While most counties in Indiana saw higher fatal overdose rates in 2020, 2021, and 2022, the data has varied more in 2023 and 2024. The data for these two years is provisional, so it could change in the near future. However, 2023 has thus far recorded 8 overdose deaths, which still represents a 33.3% increase from 2016. The data for 2024 is less clear, as there have been less than 5 deaths on record, so it remains to be seen if fatal overdoses in Noble County will continue to rise or decline since the heights reached during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Non-fatal overdoses generally offer a more complete picture of substance abuse and addiction in a given county. More people overdose and survive, so the figures tend to be higher and easier to track. Non-fatal overdoses in Noble County are no exception based on data obtained from emergency departments and hospitals in the area. The table below shows the relevant overdose data in Noble County between 2016 and 2024: [3]

*Data for 2023 and 2024 is provisional and may be subject to change.

Between 2016 and 2022, the number of annual non-fatal overdoses increased by 8.4%. However, figures varied from year to year, with peaks in 2017 and 2019. The data for 2023 and 2024 is still provisional, however, it could indicate a continuation of a downward trend in non-fatal overdoses. Between 2021 and 2023, non-fatal overdoses decreased by 30.6%. The data for 2024 only accounts for data collected through the first quarter of the year, so it’s still not sufficient to determine if this downward trend will continue. That said, the numbers do seem to be declining at a steady pace.

It’s important to note that the decline of non-fatal overdoses doesn’t exist in a vacuum. On the surface, fewer overdoses are something to celebrate, but it’s vital to compare this data to fatal overdoses to see how the two figures compare. For example, in 2016, there were 89 total overdoses on record (fatal and non-fatal). Of those 89 overdoses, 6 resulted in death. This means that just 6.7% of overdoses in 2016 were fatal. By 2022, the total number of overdoses increased very slightly to 90. Of those 90 overdoses, 12 resulted in death. This means that 13.3% of all overdoses in 2022 were fatal. When total overdoses decline, but fatal overdoses increase, it often means that more powerful drugs (or drug cocktails) are being abused, and that local resources are not enough to prevent overdose deaths.

Types of Substance Abuse in Kendallville

In 2023 and 2024, marijuana, meth, and alcohol were the most abused drugs in Noble County. With arrest and re-arrest records involving addictive substances, we can determine how drug abuse has evolved in recent years. While arrest records don’t offer a perfect representation of drug abuse, as they neglect to account for people who abuse drugs and evade arrest, it does offer a glimpse into different drug types and how their abuse changes over time. In any case, here is the latest data from Indiana’s Next Level Recovery program showing the arrests involving different kinds of addictive substances between 2016 and 2024 in Noble County:

*Statistics for 2023 and 2024 are still preliminary and do not account for the entire calendar year(s).

Like many counties throughout Indiana, Noble County experienced a decline in total arrests involving addictive substances in recent years. Between 2016 and 2022, annual arrests declined by 43.2%. Over the same period, alcohol, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia arrests all declined substantially. However, cocaine arrests increased somewhat, and arrests involving opioids increased dramatically. In fact, opioid arrests increased by an astounding 1300%.

However, the preliminary data for 2023 and 2024 is somewhat promising. Total arrests appear to be in decline, and aside from opioids, most drug types are involved in fewer arrests than they were in 2016. At the same time, it’s important to note that many arrests involve more than one substance type.