SPOKANE, Wash – Following social media pages could have you believing that people are dying from drug overdoses on the streets of Spokane every day. The reality is most people who die from drug overdoses here die in homes or apartments.
The Spokane County medical examiner presented that information as part of a multi-jurisdictional meeting on overdoses and fentanyl last week.
In her presentation, Dr. Veena Singh reported that overdose deaths are up 300% in Spokane County since 2018.
In 2024, drugs contributed to or caused the deaths of 352 people.
That makes up 5% of deaths in the county last year.
While law enforcement agencies confirm a continued spike in drug use on the streets of Spokane County, the medical examiner says more than half of all overdose deaths happen in homes and apartments.
Dr. Singh says most people who die from drug overdoses in Spokane County have fentanyl in their system, but it’s not the only drug.
While fentanyl is detected in approximately 80% of accidental overdoses, meth is detected in 70% of those overdose deaths.
Of those who died from accidental overdoses in 2024, 72% were men and 53% were identified as having a place to live, not on the streets.
In the same presentation, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported that drug-related calls for service have quadrupled in the last three years.
Calls related to the deployment of Naloxone (often called by the brand name Narcan) have increased fivefold in that period.
Officers say they’re starting to see more people using a powder form of fentanyl instead of the pill form, but the pill form is still the most common.
Agencies involved in last week’s meeting are working towards a unified way of combining resources to battle the problem.
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