Drug & Alcohol Rehab For Columbia City, Indiana

Columbia City is a city within the larger Columbia Township and the seat of Whitley County. Perhaps best known for the beautiful and historic Whitley County Courthouse, which was designed and erected in the late 19th century, Columbia City has maintained its position as a geographically significant city in northeast Indiana.

Located just 25 miles west of Fort Wayne, Columbia City is technically part of the greater Fort Wayne Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its proximity to Warsaw and South Bend also makes it a prime location for businesses, particularly manufacturing facilities. The local economy is divided between a large manufacturing sector and a smaller agricultural sector that takes advantage of the lush farmland throughout the greater Columbia Township.

The population of Columbia City has grown steadily over the past few decades — from 6,050 in 1990 to 10,126 in 2023. The economy has remained relatively strong, despite setbacks during and even after the COVID-19 pandemic. The median household income in Columbia City is $58,019 (as of the latest census), which falls well below the state median of $67,173. Additionally, Columbia City has a slightly higher poverty rate than the rest of Indiana — 13.0% compared to 12.3%. However, the median cost of living (particularly mortgages and rent) tends to be lower in Columbia City than in many other cities of similar size in the region. [1]

Despite being a popular town with beautiful architecture and a stable economy, Columbia City has struggled to combat a persistent and deadly problem: substance abuse. Overdoses, both fatal and non-fatal, have been on the rise in Columbia City and the rest of Whitley County. Local authorities have endeavored to fight back against the growing tide of deaths, but addiction continues to plague the residents of Columbia City, Columbia Township, and much of northeast Indiana.

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

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

Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Columbia City

Various departments in Columbia City provide substance abuse data to the figures collected, stored, aggregated, and analyzed at the county level. While this takes the burden of working with all of this data off of the small city, it also means that substance abuse figures in Columbia City — including arrests, overdoses, and deaths — are combined with data from other nearby municipalities, like Churubusco and South Whitley. That said, Columbia City is the largest city in the county and accounts for nearly one-third of the county’s entire population. Consequently, the data provided by the entire county is highly representative of the data for Columbia City alone.

Though not the smallest county in Indiana, Whitley County is somewhat sparsely populated with a population of approximately 34,742. As a result, there are not nearly as many deaths linked to substance abuse and addiction in Whitley County as there are in more densely populated counties like Marion or Hamilton County. However, it has still recorded a relatively high number of deaths compared to its total population, with particularly high death rates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. [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 in the table above, there is a clear upward trajectory in fatal overdoses between 2016 and 2023. Between 2020 and 2023 alone, annual deaths increased by 50%. However, it’s important to note that the data for 2023 is not finalized. The same is true for 2024, which has only recorded deaths for part of the year and therefore does not have finalized numbers. Based on the finalized data that is available, it would appear that deaths are continuing to rise in Columbia City and Whitley County, even now that the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.

Since the number of fatal overdoses is relatively low in Whitley County, it would be easy to use that data alone and assume that the addiction crisis is getting exponentially worse. However, there are many other metrics to consider. One of the most important metrics is non-fatal overdoses, particularly since they are far more common than fatal overdoses. In a sparsely populated area like Whitley County, non-fatal overdoses provide a more accurate picture of the state of substance abuse. This data is also very easy to collect via hospital discharges and emergency department visits involving addictive substances. The table below shows the relevant overdose data in Whitley 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.

Between 2016 and 2023, the number of non-fatal overdoses in Whitley County remained moderately consistent. With the exception of 2017, when non-fatal overdoses rose above 70 for the first time ever, all other years recorded numbers between 53 and 66. The data for 2024 is still provisional and will need to be updated in the coming months, but it may indicate that non-fatal overdoses are going to decline even further, as they have been in decline since the end of 2021 in Whitley County.

However, this data doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s important to consider non-fatal overdoses in relation to total overdoses (fatal and non-fatal). For example, 2016 saw a total number of 67 overdoses; just 1.4% of those overdoses were fatal. By 2022 (the most recent year with finalized data), the total number of overdoses rose to 70. By that time, fatal overdoses represented 11.4% of all overdoses. This drastic increase in fatalities without a substantial increase in total overdoses indicates that efforts to combat deaths are insufficient. It could also point to other contributing factors, like the proliferation of fentanyl and other powerful, synthetic opioids.

Types of Substance Abuse in Columbia City

In 2023 and 2024, alcohol and marijuana were the most abused drugs in Whitley County. This is based solely on arrest and re-arrest records, which do not provide a full picture of substance abuse by drug type. However, it does show how different drugs have become more or less common in Whitley County over the past few years. 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 Whitley County:

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

Though arrests peaked in 2020 and have since declined, Whitley County has seen a general increase in drug and alcohol-related arrests since 2016. This contrasts with the data we’ve seen throughout many other counties in Indiana. It’s also important to note that, despite arrests increasing, alcohol arrests have generally declined. Nonetheless, alcohol remains one of the most commonly abused substances in the county and the region.

Marijuana is also commonly abused, and arrests have remained consistently high since 2017, though marijuana arrests have also declined since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cocaine appears to be the least abused drug in Whitley County. However, meth is the third-most abused drug in the county, and prescription opioid abuse has risen consistently over the same period. These figures show that a large percentage of arrests in Columbia City and Whitley County involve more than one substance. Additionally, it’s important to note that drug paraphernalia is often associated with meth or heroin abuse, and drug paraphernalia arrests have remained high for years in Whitley County.