Drug and alcohol use caused the deaths of 415 King County residents in 2018—up from 379 in 2017—according to two new reports published today by Public Health – Seattle & King County and the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute.
Data from the 2018 Overdose Death Report describes drug and alcohol-caused deaths investigated by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office (MEO). The report found that in 2018, 77% of drug and alcohol deaths involved multiple substances. In recent years, overdoses from prescription opioids and heroin have remained stable, while overdoses involving methamphetamine and illicitly manufactured fentanyl compounds have increased.
Heroin and opioids, including fentanyl, continue to be the most common drugs associated with fatal overdoses (67%), while deaths involving methamphetamine continued to rise sharply at an alarming pace…
Source: Most recent overdose data released – King County
Resources:
- Download a poster to display: Fentanyl_Poster_10.4.19_final
- King County Harm Reduction website.