King and Snohomish Counties struggle as opioid deaths increase

SNOHOMISH COUNTY — The fentanyl crisis around the sound is gaining speed with no signs of slowing.

Both King County and Snohomish County are seeing more people die from opioid overdoses this year compared to last.

In the first three months of 2023 in Snohomish County, over 80 people’s lives were cut short due to opioid overdoses. More people in Snohomish County died in the first half of 2023 than in all of 2020.

“It tells me that we have a lot of unmet needs to address this crisis. it’s an ongoing and worsening crisis that’s just terrible,” said Dr. James Lewis, a Health Officer with the Snohomish County Health Department. He added, “If you do the second quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023, we saw a 68.2% increase. and then if you look at the first half of the year all together it’s 61% more overdose deaths compared to last year.”

January through June of 2023, 140 people died from opioids in Snohomish County. That’s compared to 87 people in the same timeframe last year.

Those overdose rates are dwarfed by King County’s numbers. Through August 727 died from opioids, 704 of those deaths are attributed to fentanyl. In all of 2022, 712 people died from fentanyl. Pierce County’s numbers only go through September 2022. Fentanyl was behind 141 of 212 overdoses.

“I’m not sure how many more people are using drugs I just think fentanyl is a timebomb...you’re one pill away from dying every time you use fentanyl,” said Dr. Lewis.

It’s affecting people of all ages and backgrounds. People who’ve stayed away from the drug for a while are also more likely to fall victim to it if they relapse.

“That’s when you’re the highest risk for overdose because you get out and you think you can use the same amount you have but your tolerance is lower,” said Dr. Lewis.

That’s why the county is rolling out a Mobile Opioid Response Unit to bring treatment to the people who need it.

“It can’t be too little too late. it’s too late for sure. we should have been doing this years ago,” said Linda Grant, CEO of Evergreen Recovery Center

Seen the Snohomish County addiction problem go from substance to substance and says fentanyl is a whole other beast.

“The consequences of drug use are so severe right now. There’s too much to be lost and too many people dying,” said Linda.

In May the county announced it’s putting funds from the Opioid Settlement back into fighting the problem. Part of that plan involved a mobile opioid treatment program.

“We can bring the treatment provider and the drugs that are needed for treatment to the people where they’re at,” said Dr. James Lewis.

“I think it’s a great idea because if you wait for the client to come to you, they’re very drug affected it’s very hard for them to keep appointments it’s very hard for them to do anything that’s on a schedule,” Linda added.

The program will help people in recovery keep up with things like methadone treatments. Evergreen Recover Center’s latest project is also part of that county plan. The new project is housing units hoping to keep moms struggling with addictions and their newborns together.

“We will have 5 rooms where we can have mothers come from the hospital with their infant who’s withdrawing. It was actually several doctors who said I wish that we could get a treatment center that would do this,” Linda explained.

The new housing units are expected to be up and running by November. The mobile opioid treatment unit will hit the streets early next year.

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