A column chart shows the number of fentanyl-positive deaths recorded in Buncombe County from 2015 through 2024. It includes all deaths in which a death certificate noted the presence of fentanyl, including but not limited to overdoses. This is one statistic, along with suspected overdoses and emergency-department visits, that experts use to track the severity of the opioid crisis. The state recorded 12 such deaths in Buncombe in 2015; 15 in 2016; 97 in 2017; 76 in 2018; 92 in 2019; 98 in 2020; 121 in 2021; 153 in 2022; 153 in 2023; and 82 in 2024. 2024 data is provisional and subject to change.