Drug & Alcohol Rehab For Brazil, Indiana

The small city of Brazil, Indiana is located at the juncture of State Route 59 and US Route 40. About an hour’s drive southwest of downtown Indianapolis, Brazil is a cozy little community that still gets plenty of traffic for people traveling to and from the state capital, as well as those passing through to reach the Illinois border, which sits about 16 miles west of Brazil.

Brazil serves as the seat of Clay County, as well as the only incorporated city in the county. Some of the largest industries in Brazil, Indiana include healthcare, manufacturing, and construction, and despite having relatively low median incomes compared to many other cities in the state, Brazil residents enjoy a comparatively low cost of living. The median household income in Brazil, Indiana is $49,331 (compared to $70,051 in all of Indiana), with a poverty rate of 13.6% (compared to 12.3% statewide). [1]

While Brazil may not be the most prosperous city in western Indiana, its convenient location along Route 40 gives it easy access to Indianapolis and many other points of interest throughout the state. However, these advantages have done nothing to quell the growing problem of addiction and substance abuse in Brazil and the rest of Clay County.

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

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

Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Brazil

Brazil, Indiana may be a major point of commerce and transportation in Indiana, but it is still not a very large city. Like most cities of similar size in Indiana, Brazil does not collect its own substance abuse data. In fact, it relies entirely on Clay County to manage the aggregation and evaluation of substance abuse cases. This is not uncommon at all, but it does make it more challenging to identify specific cases originating in Brazil.

For example, Clay County collects substance abuse data (including arrests, overdoses, and fatalities) from Brazil, as well as smaller municipalities within its purview like Clay City, Knightsville, and Harmony. However, the county administrators do not distinguish which municipalities contributed each piece of data. As a result, cases originating in Brazil are combined with cases originating in all other parts of Clay County.

However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to extrapolate important information from Clay County’s data sets. With a population of 8,214, Brazil accounts for roughly 31% of Clay County residents. As the only incorporated city in the county, Brazil contributes a higher number of substance abuse cases than any other municipality as well. By some estimates, Brazil may account for more than half of all substance abuse cases in Clay County. Consequently, Clay County’s data provides a very useful method to view the current substance abuse crisis in the city of Brazil.

Fatal overdoses are an extremely important factor to consider when studying a substance abuse crisis. Fortunately, fatal overdoses are far less common than non-fatal overdoses, and this trend is reflected in the numbers coming out of Clay County. The county has seen relatively few deaths over the past few years, though the most recent (and provisional) data may indicate that fatal overdoses are trending upward. [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 may be subject to change. The last date that data was collected was 09/04/2024.

As you can see from the table above, Clay County has recorded very few deaths related to addictive substances and overdoses. In 2020, a year in which many counties throughout Indiana saw their highest death counts, Clay County recorded zero fatal overdoses. If we only examine the difference between 2016 and 2022 (the most recent year with finalized data), it would appear that fatal overdoses declined by 40%. However, the provisional data for 2023 already shows 8 deaths, an all-time high for Clay County. 2024’s data has recorded some deaths, though we only know that the death count is less than 5 thus far. This makes it unclear if deaths are actually trending upward or not.

It’s difficult to evaluate the substance abuse crisis using fatal overdoses alone, especially when the figures are so sparse. However, non-fatal overdoses are much more common — and Clay County is no exception. While non-fatal overdoses have generally declined in Clay County since 2016, they have remained relatively high compared to similarly-sized counties. Data for non-fatal overdoses are also easier to collect with greater clarity. More specifically, this data is collected via hospital discharges and emergency department visits involving addictive substances. The table below shows the relevant overdose data in Clay County between 2016 and 2024: [3]

*Data for 2023 and 2024 is provisional and may be subject to change. The last date that data was collected was 09/04/2024.

Unlike fatal overdoses, which have shown no consistent trend and may be increasing based on provisional data, non-fatal overdoses in Clay County have consistently declined in most years. Between 2016 and 2022, non-fatal overdoses declined by 25.3%. Based on the provisional data for 2023 and 2024, it appears that non-fatal overdoses have continued to decline.

However, it’s important to consider this data in relation to total overdoses and fatal overdoses. For example, in 2016, Clay County recorded a total of 68 overdoses (fatal plus non-fatal). This included just 5 fatal overdoses accounting for 7.3% of all overdoses in the county. By 2022, Clay County recorded 50 overdoses, of which just 3 (or 6%) were fatal. This would seem to indicate that both fatal and non-fatal overdoses are in decline. Nonetheless, the provisional data for 2023 paints a very different picture; Clay County saw 50 total overdoses and 8 fatalities (16%). Therefore, it’s difficult to determine an upward or downward trend in overdoses, fatal or non-fatal, until more data for the most recent years becomes available.

Types of Substance Abuse in Brazil

In 2023 and 2024, meth was the most abused drug in Clay County. Alcohol is the most abused substance in all of Indiana, followed by marijuana, but many parts of western and southern Indiana are plagued by crystal meth abuse. This holds true for Clay County, which used to see more instances of alcohol abuse, but as time has passed, meth abuse has become the biggest threat.

That said, this information is primarily based on arrest and re-arrest data, which does not provide a full picture of different types of substance abuse. It does not include people who abuse substances and commit no crimes or those who abuse substances and evade arrest. 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 Clay County:

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

Until 2024, arrests involving addictive substances were in a steady decline. Dropping from 228 arrests in 2016 to just 32 arrests in 2022 was an enormous shift. However, this may be partially explained by the stay-at-home order issued in Indiana during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer Clay County residents were being charged for DUIs and similar crimes during this time. However, based on the data for 2023 and especially 2024, it seems that arrests have come back in full force.

Despite the shifts in total arrests, it’s vital to examine how drug types have changed in Clay County during this period. Alcohol arrests have become far less common (even counting the data for 2024). Both cocaine and prescription opioid arrests have remained consistently low over the years, while marijuana arrests have shifted between highs and lows, and appear to be on the rise again. During the pandemic, meth arrests declined substantially, but starting in 2023, they began to increase dramatically, leading to 134 arrests in the first half of 2024 alone.