Fentanyl’s scourge plainly visible on streets of Los Angeles

Ryan Smith, a 36-year-old homeless addict, falls asleep after smoking fentanyl in Los Angeles, Thursday, 18 August 2022. Nearly 2,000 homeless people died in the city from April 2020 to March 2021, a 56 percent increase from the previous year, according to a report released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Overdose was the leading cause of death, killing more than 700. Photo: Jae C. Hong / AP Photo

December 5, 2022

Fentanyl’s scourge plainly visible on streets of Los Angeles

By Jae C. Hong and Brian Melley 28 November 2022 LOS ANGELES (AP) – In a filthy alley behind a Los Angeles doughnut shop, Ryan Smith convulsed in the grips of a fentanyl high — lurching from moments of slumber to bouts of violent shivering on a warm summer day. When Brandice Josey, another homeless […]

Number of fatal drug overdoses in the U.S. involving any opioid, synthetic opioids, heroin or prescription opioids, 1999-2020. Deaths in US involving fentanyl have continued to spike since 2013. Data: CDC WONDER. Graphic: Kavish Harjai / AP News

October 28, 2022

As Halloween approaches and fentanyl drives overdose deaths, mistaken beliefs persist – “No one is trying to addict little kids to fentanyl”

By Geoff Mulvihill 28 October 2022 (AP News) – Lillianna Alfaro was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in December 2020. The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 […]

Estimated percent difference in all-cause mortality rates when a U.S. State’s policy liberalism score is 1 versus 0, for various lag times between the policies and mortality. Blue dots mean a more liberal version of the policy is associated with lower mortality and red dots mean a more conservative version is associated with lower mortality. Dark blue and red dots indicate that the association is significant at α

October 28, 2022

More Americans die younger in states with conservative policies, study finds – “State policy matters. We always get the promise from conservative states that we’re going to cut your taxes and regulation and make the environment better for business, and it comes with a cost.”

By Adrianna Rodriguez 26 October 2022 (USA TODAY) – The United States has a working-age mortality problem: Americans die younger than people in most other high-income countries. While many blame drug overdoses, rising suicide rates, and bad health habits, a new study suggests policymakers may play a bigger role than previously thought. Researchers looked at policies relating […]

The grave marker of Matthew and Catherine King, who died in 1932 and 1947 respectively, catches broken light on Wednesday, 27 October 2021, against turning leaves at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, signaling the Autumn season. Photo: Christian Gooden / St. Louis Post-Dispatch

September 17, 2022

Missouri life expectancy fell to a 40-year low in 2021 – “Record opioid overdose deaths and sharp increases in COVID-19 deaths among persons under age 65 contributed to the decrease in life expectancy”

By Jack Suntrup 13 September 2022 JEFFERSON CITY (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) – Missouri’s life expectancy fell again last year as the state recorded an increase in COVID-19 deaths among younger patients and record opioid overdose deaths. Overall, life expectancy dropped to 74.6 years last year, down from 75 years the year before, according to a […]

U.S. life expectancy at birth, 1900-2021. Data: CDC. Graphic: Datawrapper

September 2, 2022

U.S. life expectancy plunged again in 2021, down nearly a year – Last comparable decrease was during height of World War II – “It’s a dismal situation. It was bad before and it’s gotten worse.”

By Mike Stobbe 30 August 2022 NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. life expectancy dropped for the second consecutive year in 2021, falling by nearly a year from 2020, according to a government report being released Wednesday [Provisional Life Expectancy Estimates for 2021 –Des]. In the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated American […]

Pierce County drug poisoning deaths, January 2018–April 2021. Many of Pierce county's recent drug poisoning deaths included more than one drug. In 2019, Pierce County drug poisoning deaths were flattening along with state and were trending downward. However, drug poisoning deaths have risen dramatically in 2020 and 2021 despite increased harm reduction efforts, relaxed drug charges and relaxed Medications for Opioid Use disorder (MOUD) prescribing practices. Pierce County’s heroin deaths outpaced the State (comparison not shown). The number of heroin-involved deaths may be higher, since the body might metabolize heroin before labs detect it. Whites and males had the most poisoning deaths. Groups experiencing structural racism and inequitable health outcomes had the highest rates of poisoning deaths. These groups include American Indian/Alaska Natives, Hispanic/Latinx, and Black/African Americans. Deaths involving illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, continued to surge into 2021. Locally, illicit drug makers and distributors add fentanyl to counterfeit prescription pills, tar heroin, and powders like methamphetamine without users’ knowledge. As a result, fentanyl is cheaper, easier to obtain, gets users hooked more quickly and keeps them coming back for larger doses. Both Pierce County and the State have experienced dramatic increases in poisoning deaths involving methamphetamine and other stimulants in 2020 and 2021, to which Naloxone (an emergency opioid blocker) doesn’t respond. Graphic: TPCHD

May 29, 2022

“Deaths Of Despair” on the rise in Pierce County, WA – “COVID-19 has been hard on everyone”

By Charles Woodman27 May 2022 TACOMA, WA (Patch) – The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is reminding everyone: help is available if you need it. In an update Friday, the health department reported that deaths from suicide, alcohol or drug misuse had climbed from 351 in 2019 to 423 in 2020, and these “deaths of despair” […]

Map showing percent change in predicted 12 month-ending count of drug overdose Deaths, by U.S. jurisdiction, December 2020 - December 2021. Graphic: CDC / National Center for Health Statistics

May 11, 2022

U.S. surpasses record 100,000 overdose deaths in 2021 – “2022 will probably be as horrible as 2021 was, quite possibly worse”

By Meryl Kornfield 11 May 2022 (The Washington Post) – More Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021 than any previous year, a grim milestone in an epidemic that has now claimed 1 million lives in the 21st century, according to federal data released Wednesday. More than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, […]

Death rates from all drug poisonings per 100,000 Washington state residents, 2003-2020. Graphic: UW ADAI

April 9, 2022

DEA warns of “mass overdose events” from fentanyl as deadly trend spreads across U.S. – “I’ve been doing drug-trends research for 20 years, and fentanyl’s growth is the biggest, fastest shift we’ve ever seen—and also the most lethal”

By Beth Dalbey 7 April 2022 SEATTLE, Washington (Patch) – A rash of deadly “mass overdose events” across the country has the Drug Enforcement Administration warning Washington and other states to prepare for the worst. Drug Enforcement Administration head Anne Milgram said in the letter to local, state and federal law enforcement officials that in […]

Desdemona Despair

Category: opioid