Fentanyl continues to kill more Pima County residents than any other illegally obtained drugs but there has been some progress: Deaths among those 19 and younger, which were expected to continue a record-breaking climb, have instead dropped 66% in the last six months.
Opioids in general, including fentanyl, contributed to at least 71% of the 498 overdose deaths here during the 2021 calendar year.
The overdoses are still being analyzed, but the tally has already exceeded 2020's record-breaking 207 fentanyl deaths, said Mark Person, program manager of the county Health Department's Community Mental Health and Addiction.
While health officials say it's not possible to pinpoint any one reason for the improvement among teens, the county earlier this year increased access to Narcan by more than 500%. The medication, also called Naloxone, reverses the effects of opioids on the respiratory system and can be used quickly to save lives when someone overdoses.
“Fentanyl should be treated like a poison from underneath your sink,” he said. “This isn’t heroin. Heroin accounts for 20 deaths this year, and there were over 200 fentanyl deaths.”
The county's next step will be offering fentanyl testing strips along with Narcan so drug users can check if a substance contains fentanyl, which is sometimes mixed in with other drugs, such as heroin or cocaine. This testing is carried out the same way a test strip is used in a pool, with the color on the stick indicating whether there's fentanyl in water where a substance has been dissolved.
Narcan is available to the public through libraries, outpatient clinics, law enforcement, first responders, and behavioral health providers. The strips can now be distributed as well after Arizona passed a Senate bill last May that decriminalizes use of the testing strips by drug users.
In September, Person said fentanyl overdoses had replaced car accidents as the leading cause of death that age group here, and health authorities expected more than 30 deaths in that age group during 2021. However, while there were 15 overdose deaths from January to June last year, there were only five from July through December.
Person said fentanyl surges are monitored here by analyzing the toxicology of those who have died through the coroner’s office, and also tracking drugs coming across the border through U.S. ports of entry.
“When there’s a big surge at the border, overdose trends tend to follow that,” he said. “We alert the community when we think there’s a surge.”
Fentanyl tablets are sometimes crushed and added to other drugs, like heroin or cocaine, without users realizing it.
The pain killer is cheap and common here, and some teens might be deceived into thinking the tiny pill is relatively harmless compared to injecting drugs like heroin, Person said. Social isolation and hardships brought on by the pandemic are believed to have compounded the crisis.
A fentanyl warning letter was sent to all the school districts at the start of the academic year to warn parents, educators, and students about the risks associated with fentanyl and how to seek help.
