Drug-use deaths hit a record of 332 in King County last year, with two-thirds of those opioid-related overdoses, according to a report released Thursday by the Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute.
Heroin deaths dropped slightly, from 132 in 2015 to 118 last year in 2016. But fatal overdoses related to prescription opioids and fentanyl, a potent painkiller now being made illegally, increased.
The decline in heroin-related deaths is not very notable, said Caleb Banta-Green, lead author of the report, because the increase in fentanyl-related deaths made up for it.
Source: Seattle Times, Aug. 10, 2017. Read full story . . .
Full report: 2016 Drug Trends for King County, Washington. Caleb Banta-Green et al, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington, July 2017.
Also of interest: Opioid Trends in Pierce County. Caleb Banta-Green and Williams JR, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, February 2017.
