Los Angeles County saw a surge in fentanyl deaths between 2016 and 2021, with fatalities rising 1,280% during the five-year period.
"Fentanyl overdoses are a significant and growing public health problem across the United States and in LAC across sociodemographic groups and geographic areas," reads a report by L.A. County Department of Public Health released Tuesday. "The increases among youth who are being targeted by drug traffickers, and the widening disparities among marginalized groups are particularly concerning."
The report shows that L.A. County recorded 109 accidental fentanyl overdose deaths in 2016, a number that rose to 1,504 in 2021.
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The researchers found that fentanyl was listed as a drug in the majority of accidental overdose deaths in 2021, accounting for 55% of such cases. The numbers were worse for individuals from 12- to 17-years-old who died of an accidental overdose, with the drug accounting for 92% of such cases.
Adults between the ages of 26 and 39 had the highest rates of fentanyl overdose deaths between 2016 and 2021, while males were more likely to account for an accidental overdose than females, coming in at 3.9 times as likely.
Among racial categories, White users accounted for the most overdose deaths, followed by Latino, Black and Asian residents. But adjusted for population size, Black residents had the highest rate of overdose deaths at 30.6 per 100,000 population.
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The report notes that fentanyl is a dangerous drug even in small doses, most notably for those with a low tolerance. The drug is also added to other elicit street drugs, causing some users of those drugs to unwittingly ingest the dangerous opioid.
"Even a tiny amount of fentanyl can cause death, especially for those without high tolerance," the report reads. "This is complicated by the fact that many overdoses associated with fentanyl are related to poisonings among individuals ingesting fentanyl unknowingly."
The researchers concluded the report but calling for harm reduction strategies and better communicating the dangers of fentanyl to the public, including warning users of drugs that they may be accidentally exposed to fentanyl.
"Primary prevention will need to communicate both the inherent dangers associated with illicit drug use and the high probability of poisoning," the report concluded. "Harm reduction strategies are essential to help save lives, including increasing access to naloxone (Narcan), fentanyl test strips, and safer consumption sites."
