Fatal overdoses climb in Oregon despite national decline
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The rate of people dying due to drug overdoses continues to increase in Oregon, even as most other states see signs of progress.
Why it matters: Overdose deaths seem to be falling around the country as pandemic-era isolation ebbs and access to life-saving medications like naloxone grows in many places, but not here.
By the numbers: Oregon saw 31.1 overdose deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that number rose to 40.8 in 2023, a change of 31.2%.
- That was second only to Alaska, which saw a change of 44% over that same period.
- Nationally, the age-adjusted rate of U.S. fatal drug overdoses fell from 32.6 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 31.3 in 2023, the CDC says.
- The rate for synthetic opioids specifically — including fentanyl — dropped from 22.7 to 22.2.
Zoom in: A rise in overdoses led state lawmakers to reverse Oregon's first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law — Measure 110 — last year.
- Subsequent research showed that the increase in overdoses was likely due to the introduction of fentanyl, not Measure 110.
- Regardless of the cause, overdose deaths still were pervasive enough to be cited as one of the factors that caused a dip in life expectancy in Oregon.
Between the lines: A recent report from specialty lab Millennium Health highlighted a "rising tide" of heroin co-use among fentanyl users, as well as fentanyl and stimulant co-use — part of the "fourth wave" of the overdose epidemic.
The latest: After five years of skyrocketing opioid overdose deaths in the state — from 318 in 2019 to 1,394 in 2023 — last year offered a glimmer of hope that the crisis might be ebbing.
- Through the end of October, the latest data available, Oregon had seen 392 deaths, according to the Oregon Health Authority.