By Amanda Sullender
The Spokesman-Review
SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — As overdose deaths fall across the nation and level off in Washington, they’re spiking in Spokane County.
Last year, at least 327 people died of overdose in Spokane County, a more than 300% increase from 2019, when there were 80 deaths, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office. The number could climb as more toxicology reports are completed.
The epidemic in Spokane affects all demographics, Spokane County Medical Examiner Veena Singh said.
“It’s alarming to me we still have so many older people using and no decrease in younger people starting,” she said. “Anyone can be affected. It’s not just one group. It’s so widespread.”
Year after year, the number of overdose deaths in Spokane has increased rapidly. Even as many other parts of the country are seeing opioid deaths peak and begin to decline, Spokane and some parts of Washington state are still seeing deaths climb.
All but three of the overdose deaths last year were ruled accidental. The 327 deaths represents nearly a 10% increase in Spokane County from 2023.
At the same time, national drug deaths appear to be on the decline for the first time in years. Drug overdose deaths across the United States dropped by 25% between the year ending in August 2023 and the year ending in August 2024, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Singh hopes the national trend soon reaches Spokane.
“You keep reading nationally it’s leveling off. Our region was a little late to come to the epidemic,” she said. “I hope we are going to see this level off. We haven’t seen it so far.”
University of Washington School of Medicine Research Professor Dr. Caleb Banta-Green said Washington is lagging behind national drug trends by approximately two years.
“We are seeing a leveling off and perhaps the beginning of a decline,” he said of the state as a whole. “There are indications that 2024 deaths will be lower than 2023 in Washington.
State data is incomplete through the end of 2024, but data collected from January through June showed Washington with fewer than half of the opioid deaths than all of 2023. While Washington appears to be lagging behind the nation, Spokane appears to be lagging behind the state.
In December alone, the Spokane Fire Department recorded 189 overdoses. Department spokesperson Justin De Ruyter said it’s possible the number could be higher because first responders often don’t know the extent of a medical emergency call, like a heart attack, until they arrive and can determine whether drugs were a factor.
In many cases, overdose patients had to be treated with the opioid overdose antidote Narcan multiple times, according to the department’s data. While fentanyl has been the drug of choice for several years, Singh noted there has been an anecdotal increase in overdose deaths of those using other drugs.
“Narcan alone might not help because of other things in the powder in the pill. We don’t know what they are, so we can’t counteract,” Singh said, noting that Narcan should still be administered for an overdose.
Cocaine is “seeing something of a comeback,” she said. Meth deaths have similarly increased. It is unclear if these other drugs are being mixed in with fentanyl or they are being bought together.
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