The Washington State Division of Well being (DOH) on Wednesday, April 13, launched some new alarming knowledge.
Drug overdose deaths in 2021 had been over 2,000 in WA
The DOH says overdose deaths climbed over 2,000 persons, and that determine is up 66 p.c over 2019 knowledge.
In line with the information, the deaths are most prevalent amongst males 45-years of age or youthful, and the fastest-rising charges had been amongst Latinos, blacks, and Native People.
Fentanyl was by far the fast-growing risk, and accounted for almost half of the deaths. They’ve elevated ten-fold since 2016, and infrequently are discovered to be mixed with different medicine, principally meth.
Data and news reports confirm COVID contributed to this rise, we even mentioned this over a yr in the past. As well as, the nation, and particularly Pacific Northwest and West coast, are under assault from Mexican drug cartels who’re flooding our area with medicine, particularly fentanyl.
Police ‘reform’ legal guidelines not serving to the battle in opposition to medicine.
Whereas we’re not seeing the rampant explosion of violence within the Columbia Basin like they’re in Seattle and King County, our Regulation Enforcement officers are feeling the pinch. A part of the brand new Inslee-inspired “police reform” package deal pushed by means of by Democrats final yr has put handcuffs on officers making an attempt to battle drug-related crime.
It additionally did not assist the State Supreme Court docket ruling on what’s known as the Blake Choice, where they de-criminalized certain levels of drug possession–including heroin, meth, and cocaine.
Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond even issued a public assertion about what number of drug rings had been busted as a result of a low-level particular person was nailed for possession. They used to have the ability to ‘maintain’ that particular person and use their data to hint again to the seller or provider, however cannot try this anymore.
Sadly, WA State AG Bob Ferguson’s strongest motion has been to go after pharmaceutical companies, blaming them for the opioid ‘epidemic.’ He is aware of they’ve deep pockets, and this transfer has been seen as extra a cash seize for the state than battling our rising drug issues.
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