The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its provisional report on overdose deaths in 2021 across the United States. In Indiana, the number hit a record high for a second year in a row.

People in Kansas risk jail time if they call 911 to report an overdose. And not all law enforcement agencies use the lifesaving drug naloxone.

Public health experts and law enforcement blame the uptick in overdose deaths on fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid that is much more deadly than other derivatives.

The new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the opioid epidemic is far from over, and public health officials say fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that is much more deadly than other opioids — is largely to blame.

Seventeen of the 19 people have been taken into custody and are charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, officials said. Two people remained at large.

A state law created in 2018 allows for a 20- to 40-year prison sentence if convicted of dealing a controlled substance, such as fentanyl, that results in death.

Sessions touted Project Safe Neighborhoods, an effort to target the highest crime areas in the country, which includes a recent focus in Indianapolis and Evansville.

The county recently saw its 49th confirmed opioid-related death for 2017. There were 44 opioid-related deaths in 2016 and 42 in 2015.

The study also shows that Indiana's reports don't reflect the actual number of overdose deaths in which opioid drugs are present.

Jennings County Sheriff Gary Driver says Tuesday's overdoses sent deputies racing from home to home across the county to administer an anti-overdose drug to victims.