Health officials in San Francisco said Monday the number of people dying from drug overdoses is on its way to a record high, according to Fox KTVU 2 News.
There were 84 deaths from drug overdoses in August, which puts San Francisco on the path to setting a record-high number of overdose deaths for the year, at nearly 850, according to Fox KTVU 2 News. Health officials pointed to the ongoing opioid epidemic in the city as local politicians have been loudly criticized for open-air drug use and failure to sufficiently crack down on substance abuse.
“Here at the Department of Public Health we are working to prevent overdoses and save lives through a multitude of strategies and interventions and especially by making treatment and services, including medications for treatment, easily accessible to anyone who’s ready,” Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco’s public health director told Fox KTVU 2 News.
The city is launching a drug use trends dashboard to help address the fentanyl crisis, according to Fox KTVU 2 News. Officials said the dashboard would be updated with drug overdoses monthly.
The dashboard showed 562 “preliminary unintentional drug overdose deaths” so far in 2023. The number in 2022 was 398 in the same time frame.
The data from the dashboard showed the majority of those overdose deaths came from fentanyl use, while xylazine use is rising, according to Fox KTVU 2 News.
San Francisco issued a state of emergency after skyrocketing crime and drug use in 2020 and 2021. The number of homeless encampments in San Francisco is at the highest it’s been since 2020.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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