CDC Says Oregon’s Drug Death Increase Rate Ranks Highest in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that from September, 2021 to September of 2022, Oregon had more than 1200 people dying from a drug overdose. But in 2023, that number pushed up to more than 1700, a 41.5% increase. That was the highest percentage increase in the country.
As the state declared an emergency on fentanyl use, Charles Johnson was among those telling the Multnomah County Commission, “People deserve care. We need to have more and more inpatient treatment beds. We need to have an honest discussion about success rates for inpatient treatment and outpatient treatment. We need to say how many people we think are currently in active use and how are we going to scale the capacity to meet that?”
For the last several weeks, Portland Police have targeted the blocks around Southwest Jefferson Street and 10th Avenue. And in the last two weeks, they’ve arrested 10 suspected fentanyl dealers in that area.
