Just a 40-minute drive southwest of Fort Wayne, Huntington is a small city in northern Indiana, known for its beautiful lakes and parks, as well as its proximity to the J. E. Roush Fish and Wildlife Area. Huntington has a population of just 17,023, but it’s still the largest city in Huntington County and serves as the county seat. Residents enjoy beautiful natural views in a smaller urban setting, but they also enjoy a relatively low cost of living, especially when compared to larger cities like Fort Wayne or Indianapolis.
Unfortunately, the low cost of living has not prevented larger economic forces from causing distress for many people in Huntington. The city has a poverty rate of 17.5%, nearly 5 percentage points higher than the state’s poverty rate, and a median household income that falls nearly $17,000 below the state median. [1] Economic hardship exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic has only caused the ongoing substance abuse crisis to become worse in the city of Huntington and the rest of Huntington County.
Based on the most recent data, marijuana and meth are among the most commonly abused drugs in Huntington, though prescription opioids, cocaine, alcohol, and heroin are not far behind.
Continue reading to learn about substance abuse and addiction in Huntington, Indiana. If you or a loved one are fighting addiction in Huntington or the surrounding area, you can always reach out to Addiction Rehab Centers for help.
Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Huntington
Given its small size, it’s no surprise that Huntington lacks the resources to track its own substance abuse records. Moreover, it’s common practice in Indiana and many other states to rely on county-level data related to substance abuse cases, including overdose deaths, overdose hospital discharges, and drug or alcohol-related arrests. For this reason, Huntington County collects and manages all data related to substance abuse and addiction in the city of Huntington.
While this system makes it easier for the county and state to develop wide-scale programs for combatting addiction, it makes it more difficult to keep track of more localized cases. However, Huntington County is very sparsely populated, with the city of Huntington accounting for about 60% of the county population. As a result, roughly two-thirds of substance abuse cases recorded at the county level originate in the city of Huntington.
Death records are one of the primary tools used by substance abuse experts to analyze the extent, prevalence, and severity of the current crisis in Huntington County. These can be used to determine the approximate number of people struggling with severe addiction, as well as more concrete figures on how many lives addiction takes each year in the area. Overdose deaths peaked in Huntington County during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, though the most recent data indicates that overdose deaths may be declining once again. [2] The table below shows how deaths involving all drugs (including alcohol) have changed in the area over the past few years in Huntington County:
Year | Total Deaths | % Change From Previous Year |
2016 | 9 | N/A |
2017 | 2 | Decreased by 77.8% |
2018 | 5 | Increased by 150.0% |
2019 | 5 | Increased by 0% |
2020 | 11 | Increased by 120.0% |
2021 | 21 | Increased by 90.9% |
2022 | 13 | Decreased by 38.1% |
*2023 | 5 | Decreased by 92.3% |
*Data for 2023 is provisional and only accounts for the first quarter of the year.
Due to the small sample size, it’s difficult to use the overdose death data for Huntington County effectively. While it’s obvious that deaths did increase substantially in 2020 and 2021, the numbers are not large enough to draw any firm conclusions. This is particularly true for the provisional data recorded in 2023. No more than 5 deaths were recorded in 2023, which indicates a major decline in deaths from the peak in 2021. But once again, the sample size is so small that even one or two more deaths in a given year can skew the data dramatically. Therefore, based on overdose deaths alone, it is unclear how the addiction crisis is changing in Huntington County.
Fortunately, there are many other ways to evaluate the addiction crisis. Deaths are the most severe result of addiction, but not all addictions end in death. In addition to recovery, many people experience overdoses and survive. In fact, in any given year, Huntington County residents who struggle with addiction are more likely to survive an overdose than they are to succumb to one.
The table below shows the hospital discharges involving drug overdoses in Huntington County between 2016 and 2023: [3]
Year | Total Hospital Discharges | % Change From Previous Year |
2016 | 98 | N/A |
2017 | 121 | Increased by 23.5% |
2018 | 83 | Decreased by 31.4% |
2019 | 121 | Increased by 45.8% |
2020 | 115 | Decreased by 5.0% |
2021 | 138 | Increased by 20.0% |
2022 | 99 | Decreased by 28.3% |
*2023 | 53 | Decreased by 46.5% |
*Data for 2023 is provisional and only accounts for the first quarter of the year.
As you can see, the data from overdose hospital discharges offers greater insight into the addiction epidemic in the city of Huntington and all of Huntington County. That said, hospital discharges have fluctuated from year to year, without a clear pattern. Moreover, there was only a difference of one additional discharge between the figures recorded in 2016 and those recorded in 2022. The 2023 data is provisional, but considering that both 2022 and 2023 show a decline in hospital discharges, it could be further evidence that the addiction crisis is improving in the region.
Types of Substance Abuse in Huntington
In 2022, meth, heroin, and alcohol were the most abused drugs in Huntington County. Here is the latest data from Indiana’s Next Level Recovery program showing the arrests involving different kinds of addictive substances between 2016 and 2023 in Huntington County:
Year | Total Arrests | Alcohol | Cocaine | Marijuana | Meth | Opioid | Drug Paraphernalia |
2016 | 407 | 305 | 5 | 122 | 36 | 22 | 94 |
2017 | 397 | 243 | 4 | 90 | 83 | 44 | 126 |
2018 | 427 | 322 | 4 | 117 | 73 | 27 | 126 |
2019 | 493 | 266 | 13 | 159 | 110 | 38 | 213 |
2020 | 579 | 217 | 11 | 205 | 152 | 82 | 200 |
2021 | 570 | 261 | 14 | 217 | 151 | 89 | 178 |
2022 | 468 | 181 | 9 | 138 | 178 | 82 | 151 |
2023* | 397 | 209 | 8 | 96 | 108 | 69 | 118 |
*Statistics for 2023 are still preliminary and do not account for the entire calendar year.
Total substance abuse-related arrests did not increase dramatically between 2016 and 2022, though they did peak at 579 in 2020. Additionally, various trends can be extracted from the table above. Cocaine, for example, is not very prevalent in Huntington County. And while alcohol and marijuana arrests have generally declined, meth and opioid arrests have more than tripled since 2016. It’s also important to point out that many of the arrests recorded in Huntington involve multiple substances, which may be further evidence of severe substance abuse among local residents.
Huntington Substance Abuse Resources
In spite of its small size, the city of Huntington does have a dedicated Addiction Recovery Task Force. This task force includes people from many backgrounds, including medical professionals, law enforcement, as well as current and former drug abusers. The task force coordinates care, promotes educational resources, and generally tries to reduce the prevalence of substance abuse in the city.
Additionally, the city of Huntington relies on county-level resources, primarily programs for distributing Naloxone and educating people on its uses. Naloxone is one of the most effective tools used by medical personnel to prevent death during an opioid overdose. Programs to educate first responders can also help them understand exactly when and how to use it, while distribution initiatives make it more widely available to clinics in the area.
Huntington Drug Rehab & Alcohol Rehab
Huntington may be a small city, but it boasts a beautiful community of parks, rivers, and lakes. It is also a charming little city that is a great place to call home for hundreds of families. However, like many cities throughout the state of Indiana, Huntington is no stranger to substance abuse and addiction. For years, the small population has been overlooked, as there haven’t been very many deaths recorded as a direct result of substance abuse. However, this doesn’t negate the fact that many individuals and families throughout Huntington are fighting addiction each and every day.
Fortunately, if you or a loved one live in Huntington and are looking for addiction treatment options, Addiction Rehab Centers is just a phone call away (and less than a 2-hour drive away). Located in Indianapolis, Addiction Rehab Centers is among the best providers of drug and alcohol rehabilitation in the state. We offer extensive detox and rehab programs to fit a wide range of needs. We also provide care for co-occurring mental health disorders in a modern, comfortable, and relaxing environment. By reaching out to our team, you can begin your journey to a brighter tomorrow — free from the grip of addiction.
If you or a loved one need help, don’t hesitate to reach out as soon as possible. Addiction Rehab Centers is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. You can contact us on our website or call us directly at 844-551-4673.
