The Daily Agenda: Some good-ish news about fentanyl
It’s a catastrophe by any measure … But there might be reason for cautious optimism … Bad drivers put on notice.
There’s no question fentanyl is a massive problem across the country and right here in Pima County, where the powerful synthetic opioid has claimed the lives of more than 1,300 residents since 2017.
But for the first time since fentanyl exploded on the scene a decade ago, Pima County is on pace to see a large drop in fentanyl-related deaths this year.
That drop should be welcome news to the seemingly countless local officials and nonprofits trying to deal with fentanyl, which is not only deadly but also compounds problems like homelessness, health care, border security, and poverty, even balancing the state budget.
As the July 30 primary election approaches and campaigns really start to heat up, fentanyl also is something voters hear a lot about from candidates for nearly every political office, from local races for sheriff, county supervisor, and county attorney, all the way to national offices, like Congress and the presidency.
One of the main reasons so many candidates bring it up is that year after year, Pima County residents have watched in horror as fentanyl-related deaths skyrocketed.
The horror remains, but when we looked at data from the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, we found a bit of good-ish news: After years of drastic increases, those deaths leveled off in 2021 and stayed around 300 in each of the past three years.
As of early June, the medical examiner reported 88 fentanyl-related deaths so far this year. That puts the county on pace for about 200 this year, well below the rate for the past three years.
And it’s not just Pima County. A similar trend shows up in the statewide numbers from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Fatal overdoses from synthetic and prescription opioids skyrocketed for years and then flattened from 2021 to 2023.
So far this year, they’re on pace to be about half of what they were in 2023.
County officials caution that there is no way to say with certainty what will happen in the coming months, but Mark Person, a public health program manager at the county health department, said he is “fairly confident that we will see a decrease by the end of 2024, if the trend continues on a similar path.”
What’s behind the drop? Person pointed to a decline in cross-border fentanyl smuggling.
“Historically we have seen a strong correlation between drug seizure trends recorded by [Customs and Border Protection] at the Tucson ports of entry and our local overdose trends,” Person said. “In other words, when the presence of a drug increases or decreases our overdose deaths tend to follow suit.”
He compared January-April 2023 with the same period this year. Fentanyl seizures at the Arizona’s ports of entry with Mexico dropped by 46% and fentanyl deaths in Pima County went down by about 38%.
Over at the medical examiner’s office, Dr. Greg Hess said in a recent county report that drug dealers aren’t “lacing” other drugs with fentanyl as much as they used to.
Since the fentanyl crisis began, one of the main ways people died was by consuming fentanyl without realizing it. Given that a lethal dose of fentanyl can be just a few grains, that accidental consumption led to thousands of deaths every year.
But the decline in deaths doesn’t mean local officials are easing up. In May, Tucson and Pima County officials partnered on a collaborative strategy to deal with the fentanyl crisis. They’re focusing on educating medical providers, schools, and community organizations. They’re also creating opioid response units, monitoring treatment and diagnosis of substance use disorder and continuing to distribute naloxone and fentanyl test strips.
Those efforts were set to be funded in part by the $100 million county officials expected to get from a nationwide lawsuit filed against opioid manufacturers.
But the county might not even see the funding, now that state legislators decided to use $115 million of the settlement money to balance the state prison budget. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sued Gov. Katie Hobbs and other state officials, but a Maricopa County judge ruled that if the state uses the funds to treat opioid issues in prisons, then the spending would be appropriate.
On top of that, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the Sackler family, who helped stir up the opioid crisis by falsely assuring doctors Oxycontin was non-addictive, could be held personally liable. That might upend the $7 billion dollar settlement the Sackler family struck with states, including Arizona.
Regardless of when Pima County sees the settlement money, the battle against fentanyl isn’t ending anytime soon and it’s clearly a topic that’s at the forefront of community concerns.
During a county attorney candidate forum last month, candidates Laura Conover and Mike Jette fielded a question from the audience about their plans to address fentanyl and the people responsible for its distribution in Southern Arizona.
And while their answers on other issues differed quite a bit, the two were aligned with their views on this one: Offer education and treatment to the people who are addicted and hold accountable “the people who deal with this poison,” as Jette put it.
The county set up a local crisis line for anyone dealing with opioids: (520) 622-6000. You can find Naloxone distribution centers at the Pima Helpline website.
Get out and vote: Independent voters in Arizona wanting to vote in the July 30 primary election have until July 19 to request a Democratic or Republican ballot, the Arizona Luminaria’s Becky Pallack writes. Independents make up about a third of registered voters in Arizona, but only about 14% of registered independents voted in the 2020 and 2022 primary elections. Pallack breaks down a few key races that might help independents decide between a Republican or Democratic ballot.
Traffic troubles: Tucson Police and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department are increasing traffic enforcement efforts and staffing in response to an ongoing rise in bad driving, including distracted driving and speeding, the Arizona Daily Star’s Prerana Sannappanavar reports. There has also been an increase in road rage incidents in Southern Arizona and nationwide, Sannappanavar and the Star’s Erika Wurst write, with three recent local cases and national figures showing that road rage shooting injuries have more than doubled since 2018.
Protecting our pets: Pima Animal Care Center Director Monica Dangler provides tips for Tucson Sentinel readers to keep their pets safe at home during the Fourth of July holiday, which is one of the shelter’s busiest intake days of the year, with upwards of 300 dogs coming in as strays. The shelter is and has been at critical capacity on and off since our launch last year, when we wrote about the consequences of a consistently full shelter, including disease outbreaks and euthanizations for space.
Greatest hits: The Star’s Henry Brean detailed the nearly 50-year career of KVOA reporter Lupita Murillo who retired last week after 46 years of covering news in Southern Arizona. Mayor Regina Romero declared June 30, 2024 “Lupita Murillo Day” to honor her contributions to the community, as Murillo was a longtime contributor to the nonprofit scene. As part of the celebration of Murillo’s career, all Si Charro restaurants will be selling a special “Lupita-Rita” drink in July, with a portion of every sale going to local nonprofit TIHAN, a longtime favorite of Murillo’s.
Clearing things up: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes clarified in an opinion released Thursday that doctors can perform abortions later in pregnancy if the patient faces death or major bodily impairment, Arizona Public Media’s Hannah Cree reports. State lawmakers put a 15-week limit on abortions in 2022, with an exception beyond 15 weeks if a mother’s life is in danger. But many doctors were still unsure if they could legally intervene, fearing prosecution. Democratic lawmakers last month asked Mayes to weigh in and clarify what’s allowed.
Packed race: The Luminaria’s Yana Kunichoff breaks down Arizona’s U.S. Senate primary races, writing that whoever voters decide to send to Washington, D.C. will play an important role in tipping the vote in national politics. The packed Republican primary includes four Senate candidates. Green Party voters will decide between two candidates who were rejected by the Arizona Green Party and a third endorsed, write-in candidate from Pima County. The primary winners will face Democrat and longtime politician U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego in the general election.
74,702: Fentanyl-related deaths in the United States in 2023, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. That’s down slightly from 76,226 in 2022.
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