BATON ROUGE - For five years, fatal overdose numbers in East Baton Rouge have trended down. From a record high in 2021, the numbers steadily decreased over the past few years. The consensus among experts has been that while the downward trend is great to see, they say there is a long way to go in fighting the opioid crisis.

"We're excited. We're not satisfied. We have seen a steady decrease in drug overdose deaths," mental health advocate and community activist Tonja Myles said.

District Attorney Hillar Moore agrees with Myles; he's grateful for the decrease they've seen so far.

"A lot of work still to go, but a lot of progress that people should be happy with and proud of," Moore said.

This year to date, there have been 99 overdoses; those don't include the 44 deaths where toxicology reports are pending.

In 2021, 311 people died as a result of an overdose. The last time the number of deaths was not in triple digits was 2016.

According to EBR Parish Coroner Beau Clark, the leading cause of fatal overdoses is multiple drug toxicity, but the main offender is Fentanyl.

Officials say that while several factors are contributing to the decline this year, they believe the biggest factor has been the crackdown efforts at the border.

"I don't think there's really one thing. I think it's probably a lot of action that's happening at the border of the country, where we're slowing down the amount of fentanyl that's coming into the country and the precursor materials that are coming in," Moore said.

They also point to expanded drug outreach programs, wider access to Narcan, and drug busts happening across the parish.

"We distribute treatment resources, Narcan. We work with some amazing organizations in East Baton Rouge Parish, and that's why those drug overdose deaths are going down," Myles said.

"Particularly, the sheriff's office has made some significant cases this year involving fentanyl pill presses, fentanyl dealers with guns, and fentanyl dealers with other types of drugs. I think all of that has a significant impact. Also, the legislature changed the law to make the penalties much stiffer and longer," Moore said.