SAN FRANCISCO: Mike Enright overdosed three times in December. Longtime heroin user said he was unaware of its limit after switching to fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid.
“It just hits you a lot harder,” Mr. Enright said, sitting on the sidewalk not far from the tent where he sleeps.
For a long time on the east coast, fentanyl has been driving a rapid rise in overdose deaths in the western US.
In the Seattle area, deaths from fentanyl overdose increased 57 percent in 2020 from the previous year, according to data from the county medical examiner. Preliminary data show that deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl increased 162% in the Las Vegas area last year. In Los Angeles County, a recent report blamed fentanyl for a 26% jump in overdose deaths among the homeless population during the first seven months of 2020.
The problem is particularly acute in San Francisco, where 708 record drug overdoses were recorded in 2020, 61% more than the previous year. In comparison, 254 Covid-19 people died in the city last year.