The city of San Francisco saw a record 806 accidental drug overdose deaths in 2023 as fentanyl continues to plague the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.
Fentanyl, an opioid that can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin, was responsible for 80% of overdoses in 2023, according to data cited from the medical examiner’s office by the Chronicle.
The city’s deadliest month was in August, and the number of deaths in the first 11 months surpassed the previous record of 726 deaths in 2020.
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“San Francisco alone cannot solve this problem of record overdoses deaths,” Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the city’s Health Department said, according to the Chronicle. “We rely on our city and community partners and our legislators at the local, state and federal level to join us in this moment to continue to tackle this crisis.”
Overdose rates fell in the last four months, but the numbers from the medical examiner’s office are preliminary and can increase or decrease upon further investigation, according to the Chronicle.
“These reductions in deaths in December is not something to tout in a year with a record number of tragic deaths overall,” Colfax said, according to the Chronicle. “Every person who died was someone’s loved one — a child, a sibling, a life partner, a mother, a father, a best friend.”
Overdose deaths increased among Latinos and black people, with a 45% and 38% increase from 2022 in, respectively, according to Chronicle. The number of deaths among white people increased by 4% from 2022.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a law enforcement task force in October to investigate fentanyl overdose deaths in San Francisco. The task force is made up of members of the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco district attorney’s office.
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San Francisco spent $76 million dollars on drug-treatment programs and nearly $700 million on homelessness from 2021 to 2022, according to the New Yorker.
The city began partnering with the state government in May to address overdose deaths in the city. The task force between the two governments will investigate opioid deaths like homicides, and potentially charge the drug dealers as murderers.
But residents of the drug-ridden Tenderloin district said the efforts haven’t solved the problem.
Breed and Newsom did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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