SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — On average, about 45 people are dying a month this year due to accidental drug overdoses in San Francisco. Last month, three quarters of the city’s drug fatalities were related to fentanyl.
According to the latest drug overdose report:
- 451 people have died this year
- 21% were women
- 79% were men
There is a big misconception that it’s only homeless drug addicts that are dying, but the data reveals otherwise. Seventy-two percent of those who died had a home address, while only 24% did not.
These accidental overdoses are happening all over the city, with only 21% occurring in the Tenderloin. The number of drug overdoses since January 2020 is almost double the number of deaths from COVID in the city.
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Supervisor Matt Dorsey and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu have been working on efforts to gain control over this epidemic. Dorsey has introduced San Francisco Recovers, which offers more support to those seeking recovery, reduces street level drug dealing and open-air drug scenes, as well as introducing several other programs.
Fentanyl kills people quickly and often people don’t have the life saving Narcan or Nalxone on-hand to reverse the effects. When first responders like paramedics and fire crews arrive, they try to administer it, but often it’s too late.
