A Record Breaking Year For Fentanyl In King County

Seattle (AP) – With just two months left in the year, King County is seeing a record-breaking number of fentanyl overdoses.

King County Public Health said there were 116 fentanyl overdoses in 2019 but as of October, there’s been 135 fentanyl overdoses in 2020, surpassing all of last year.

Fentanyl overdoses are disproportionately affecting young people who think they’re purchasing real prescription pills off the street, but end up getting counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, experts said.

In 2015, fentanyl related deaths only made up 1% of all overdoses in the county, compared to 40% in 2020, experts said.