Overdose fatalities were down by about 4% between 2021 and 2022, according to new data from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE). The proportion of overdose fatalities involving fentanyl rose by about 3%.
In 2022, 453 people died from overdoses. More than 50% of those involved fentanyl.
Still, DDPHE points to its harm reduction efforts, including distributing free fentanyl test strips and naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medicine often packaged as Narcan, as evidence of progress being made.
"The 2022 number of fatal overdoses in Denver seems to indicate a plateau, which could be indicative of successful overdose prevention efforts," DDPHE wrote in a press release Wednesday.
"I was very pleased so see harm reduction being included," said Lisa Raville, Executive Director of the Harm Reduction Action Center. "The City of Denver has been supportive of harm reduction efforts over the years beginning with their support of syringe exchange efforts in 2012, naloxone efforts in 2013, overdose prevention centers in 2018, along with consistent funding over the years."
But efforts to grow harm reduction approaches have stalled statewide.
A bill that would have authorized safe injection sites, touted by harm reduction advocates, was voted down in committee at the Colorado legislature Wednesday night.
The majority of overdoses involving fentanyl in 2022 included other drugs as well; around 40% involved methamphetamine, according to DDPHE. The high level of mixed drugs reflects national trends. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently issued a warning about fentanyl mixed with the veterinary tranquilizer xylazine, which is resistant to naloxone.
"There were two overdose fatalities in Denver involving xylazine in 2022," DDPHE wrote. "In both cases, xylazine was found in combination with other drugs. The Denver Police Department reports finding the substance mixed with fentanyl in Denver's drug supply as recently as this spring."
DDPHE said xylazine is not "widespread" in the Denver area, but cautioned that contents of drug supplies change quickly.
"It's concerning that xylazine was found in 2 Denver deaths," Raville said in an email to Denverite. "We continue to be concerned about the public overdose deaths along with the deaths of our unhoused neighbors. People are at high risk for overdose when using alone, by the very fact that no one is there to witness, recognize, and respond."
