San Francisco Hits Record Overdose Deaths

San Francisco on Thursday hit a one-year record for overdose deaths as fentanyl continues to plague cities across the United States.

Between January 1 and November 30, 752 people in the city died from a drug overdose, according to preliminary data San Francisco's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released Thursday. The previous record for overdose deaths in a year was 726, which the city hit in 2020, ABC 7 News reported.

Over 81 percent of those deaths involved fentanyl, while about 51 percent and 46 percent involved methamphetamine and cocaine, respectively. Smaller proportions of those who overdosed also used medicinal opioids and heroin. Those numbers are consistent with previous data on deaths occurring from January to October.

ABC 7 reported that city officials have begun monitoring wastewater as one way to fight the overdose epidemic.

"We expect the data to help us access trends, increase or decreases to help us predict what we might see in terms of non-fatal overdoses and fatal overdoses," Dr. Hillary Kunins, who works for the city's public health department, told the outlet. That testing is part of a federal program that involves San Francisco among 70 other cities.

The news of record overdose deaths in San Francisco comes days after an Oregon task force for the City of Portland, which Gov. Tina Kotek (D.) chairs, issued a list of recommendations to revive the city, many of which revolved around cracking down on drug use. The suggestions included declaring a "fentanyl emergency" and criminalizing public drug use.

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