Town of Cary
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Project Findings and Result
Instead of relying on deaths as an indicating factor of opioid use in Cary, the data gathered from this pilot allowed the town to respond to and allocate resources to combat the most drastic effects of the substances' presence in the community.
For example, Cary discovered early in the project that Narcan consumption drastically exceeded overdoses in the area, suggesting that 25 times more people were overdosing than what was reported through emergency services.
The chart below shows that while the number of opioid-related incidents has fluctuated since 2017 the number of fatalities has decreased overall as a result of proactive resource allocation and use, including increasing the supply of Narcan to police first response vehicles.
| Opioid-related incidents | Narcan deliveries | Opioid-related fatalities on the scene | |
| 2017 | 100 | 4 | 11 |
| 2018 | 63 | 40 | 2 |
| 2019 | 64 | 32 | 7 |
| 2020 | 80 | 49 | 11 |
| 2021 | 114 | 50 | 2 |
| 2022 | 118 | 60 | 2 |
As a result of the observable data gathered from this pilot, in 2022 Cary was awarded a settlement figure by the North Carolina Department of Justice in the amount of $928,360, to be distributed incrementally through the year 2038. The funds received by Cary will be used for collaboration with neighboring and parent communities, continuous observation of opioid impact, innovation for better methods of data collection, and response to combat the effects of opioids in our area.
Background
The opioid epidemic is affecting communities throughout the nation, and Cary is no exception. From 1999 to 2016, North Carolina saw an 800% in lethal overdoses from opioid. In 2017, Cary saw a 40% increase in fatal overdoses and a 135% increase in non-fatal overdoses, resulting in a 70% overall increase in overdoses over previous periods. In reaction to these troubling statistics, Mayor Harold Weinbrecht saw need for a solution that would provide immediate observable data and insight into the issue at large. As a result, Cary joined the Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge, aimed at the testing and implementation of innovative solutions to urgent local issues. The town was named as one of 35 finalists and awarded a $100,000 grant toward the project.
In 2018, the Opioid Wastewater Project pilot was initiated, with an eye toward a baseline dataset that could replace overdoses as the standard metric used to gauge opioid consumption. Since the beginning of this project, Cary has been committed to finding solutions for pressing health crises and increasing the public’s understanding of opioid misuse.
Initially, Cary monitored the concentrations of opioid levels in the sewage over a six-month period from June to November of 2018. Cary worked alongside Biobot Analytics to provide opioid testing and data analytics. During this testing period, town staff relied on data collected from wastewater sampling devices placed within the sewer system. Ten locations were selected within Cary’s wastewater collection system by a team of public health officials, scientists, and utility managers.
Opioids and opioid metabolites were then monitored and calculated into a consumption rate of a daily dosage per population of 1,000, painting a picture of total opioid consumption for substances including morphine, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, dihydrocodeine, tramadol, heroin, fentanyl, and others.
This innovative way of collecting and sharing data has provided a useful tool for healthcare officials and educators focused on developing programs that help those at risk in our community.