Local and national law-enforcement officials gathered Thursday outside the San Diego County medical examiner's office to deliver a disturbing update on the region's Prescription Drug Report Card.
The trends reveal an alarming uptick, said county district attorney Summer Stephan, especially in fentanyl-related deaths.
"In 2019, there were 151 fentanyl-related deaths in San Diego County," Stephan said. "That number rose to 259 confirmed fentanyl-related deaths -- and 57 that are still under investigation that will likely end up being fentanyl-related."
Stephan -- who was joined by County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, Sheriff Bill Gore, U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer, San Diego police chief David Nesleit and others, put a face on opioid abuse.
"These deaths are not just numbers," Stephan said. "They are people, they are families. I heard from a mother recently of 21-year-old Jacob, a beautiful young man who felt some anxiety, some depression, and ended up taking a counterfeit pill that was laced with fentanyl and it ended his life."
Some sobering statistics:
- 619% increase in fentanyl-caused deaths between 2015 (21 deaths) to 2019 (151 deaths)
- 19,910 adult drug treatment admissions in 2019. Of these, 3% were due to prescription pain medication
- 124: Number of heroin overdose deaths, a 25% increase in heroin overdose deaths from 2015 (90 deaths) to 2019 (124 deaths)
- The number of unintentional fentanyl deaths increased by 64% from 2018 to 2019, while at the same time prescription drug deaths rose nearly 12%
A couple of more positive developments: The report card showed progress had been made in the misuse of prescription drugs, and officials noted on Thursday that San Diegans turned in a staggering 5-plus tons of prescription drugs in just four hours at 14 sites around the county during the DEA's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day last month.
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“On Oct. 24, the DEA collected over 60% more unwanted prescriptions from San Diego County residents than we did at our last Take Back Day in 2019,” Special Agent in Charge John W. Callery said in a news release issued Thursday.
Nationally, the public turned in a staggering 493 tons nationwide during the event.
