SPOKANE, Wash — A public safety and health briefing Monday painted a sobering picture of the drug crisis in Spokane County, one Spokane city leaders are being urged to take action on.
In a presentation to city council members, Dr. Bob Lutz used Washington Department of Health data to show the drastic rise in overdoses and drug deaths over recent years. In nearly every example, Spokane County's numbers exceeded those of the state.
For instance, one graphic showed overdose deaths for synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, between 2019 and 2022. In Spokane County, that number has skyrocketed 2,000%.
"I will certainly expect to see an even greater when we see the 2023 data," Dr. Lutz, the eastern Washington regional health officer with DOH, told council members.
Lutz provided KREM 2 News with new calculations using some of the most recent data.
"This number will really amaze the audience," he said. "From 2017, where we really had essentially no known overdoses from fentanyl, to 2023 preliminary data we have a 5,800% increase in the number of people who have overdosed from fentanyl."
That number, he said, also exceeded state statistics.
Lutz told council members overdoses and deaths for all types of drugs have risen, according to state DOH data. Between 2022 and preliminary 2023 numbers, Washington's OD deaths for all drugs rose from 2,703 to 3,130. That included a rise in cocaine overdoses (361 to 549), which surprised council member Michael Cathcart. Lutz said the numbers do not account for "poly-substance" overdoses, or users mixing different drugs.
The staggering rise in overdoses and deaths has increased calls for Spokane city leaders to take action. City Council President Betsy Wilkerson said people are calling on them to declare an emergency.
"We could declare an emergency, we don't have the resources to really double down with additional funding to support that intensive outreach or treatment going forward," Wilkerson said Monday.
Erin Hut, communications director for Mayor Lisa Brown's office, said discussions about declaring a public health crisis are ongoing. She said it would largely be a method to increase awareness and would not open up additional "tools" to combat the local drug epidemic. That kind of response would have to come from the state or federal government, Lutz and Hut explained.
Dr. Lutz says awareness and reducing stigma could go a long way, though.
"Look to what we could do around education, around supporting people who have substance use issues and for treatment," he said.
Hut said while the city discusses a possible declaration, there are some steps being taken. Mayor Brown's administration has asked the Spokane Regional Health District to compile a more coordinated overdose dashboard using comprehensive data from various agencies; KREM 2 News has explored the lack of centralized data and how difficult it is to paint a clear picture of the drug problem.
The city is also starting to receive opioid abatement money from settlements, Hut said, which could be used to staff up co-responder or behavioral response units. That money, she says, should continue to come in for many years.
The city is also awaiting a decision from the state legislature on a request for one million dollars to expand the street medical team operated by CHAS.
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