drug overdose

Fentanyl is involved in an increasing number of deadly overdoses and getting treatment for addiction to the synthetic opioid is a complex process — creating a local health disaster.

The physical and emotional toll wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures has been accompanied by an increase in opioid use and related deaths over the past year — after five years of decline — in Washington state. At the same time, use of even more dangerous synthetic opioids is becoming more prevalent, making the increased use even more hazardous.