San Francisco saw nearly three times as many people die from a drug overdose as from a coronavirus last year, a surprising finding that highlights the terrible drug epidemic in the city fueled by the powerful painkiller fentanyl.
A record 699 people died of overdoses from January to December 2020, according to a new report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. That number may seem surprising amid the global pandemic of COVID-19, when San Francisco closed schools and businesses to prevent deaths. In SF, 235 people died of complications from the coronavirus in 2020.
The city’s drug crisis is deepening because fentanyl, which can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, has flooded the city’s drug supply, the newspaper said. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic disrupted city services, such as housing and treatment, and left many people who depend on others to help save them in the event of an overdose to use alone.
Kristen Marshall is a project manager for the Education and Drug Overdose Prevention Project (DOPE Project), a city-funded program that coordinates San Francisco’s overdose response. Marshall said that the use of fentanyl has increased drug overdoses in recent years. In 2019, 441 people died from drug overdoses – an increase of 70% over 2018. Now, the pandemic has taken overdoses to a record level.
“The only golden rule of preventing overuse is to try not to use it alone, and the order of the shelter on the site says to stay safe, you need to isolate yourself,” she said. “It’s just the opposite. People at high risk were isolated and that increased the risk. Chaos put people at greater risk. The worst months were in the height of summer, when it was most chaotic for this community.”
The DOPE Project also saw an increase in the number of overdoses prevented by Narcan, a drug commonly used in the nose to reverse an opioid overdose. This year, the project recorded 3,470 reversals, compared to 2,610 last year.
Marshall noted that their number captures only about 20% to 30% of the overdoses avoided by Narcan.
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Of the city’s 2020 overdose deaths reported, 26% occurred in Tenderloin, a neighborhood with high rates of drug trafficking.
The San Francisco Police Department’s Tenderloin Police Station said in its 2020 report published in Twitter that police made 2,219 arrests in 2020, including 600 for drug trafficking, and removed 18.1 kilograms of narcotics from the area.
The Inner Mission saw the second highest number of overdose deaths, with 16% of deaths, according to the coroner’s report.
The data also reveals that 76% of deaths from overdose were in men and 79% had a fixed address. More than 40% of the people who died lived in Tenderloin or neighboring SoMa, two districts known for their subsidized residential buildings for single occupancy, services and organizations dedicated to helping the needy.
“The volume of these types of deaths has increased – mainly in 2020 – in the past two years,” said Dr. Luke Rodda, the office’s chief toxicologist, in an interview with KTVU. “Each is someone’s loved one.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on January 15 at 10am after receiving additional information from the DOPE Project.