(The Center Square) – Drug overdose deaths are down in King County this year from a record-shattering year in 2023, as the county steps up services to aid residents struggling with addiction.
There have been 984 confirmed overdose deaths in King County this year through Thursday, according to the county. That is a 36% decrease from 1,339 in 2023.
However, the 984 confirmed deaths are still a major increase from before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, there were 426 deaths attributed to drug overdose.
Notably, there were 709 deaths in 2021, 39% less than this year.
King County is spending millions of dollars to build up its behavioral health and drug addiction treatment programs and address the crisis facing the region.
For instance, King County created a 24/7 hotline that provides medication for opioid use disorder.
According to the county, more than 500 people started medication through the hotline.
“Historically, starting treatment included jumping through all these hoops,” said Dr. Lauren Whiteside – who helped conceive the hotline – in a statement. “This program harnesses that exact moment [when someone is ready to start treatment] with a lot of support.”
The King County Sheriff’s Office also reported some success in removing drugs off the market. This year, the department’s Precinct 4 Special Emphasis Team seized 487 pounds of narcotics. The county estimates the street value of the recovered drugs totaling $13.5 million.
Out of the 487 pounds of narcotics this year, the Sheriff’s Office seized more than 536,000 fentanyl pills, 169 pounds of meth and 163 pounds of fentanyl powder.
The county is also investing in mobile outreach teams to help unhoused people with drug overdoses while residing on streets. There are 27 mobile crisis teams that provide the region with more coverage.
King County will continue funding the mobile outreach teams next year with a planned total of $22 million.
Funding for the expansion of the county’s mobile crisis teams comes in part from $3.5 million from last year’s voter-approved $1.3 billion Crisis Care Centers Levy for 2024 and 2025. The levy costs property owners 15 cents per $1,000 in assessed value, meaning an average King County homeowner paid approximately $127 toward the levy in 2024.
King County also built and opened the region’s first walk-in 24/7 behavioral health crisis center in Kirkland this past summer through funding from the the Crisis Care Centers Levy.
The levy goes toward the construction of centers to provide people the opportunity to get help for behavioral health issues regardless of insurance or the ability to pay.
Each center is expected to be able to serve as many as 14,000 people a year.
