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Drug trends, overdoses focus of community opiate forum

The most recent numbers show Washington's opioid epidemic claimed 694 lives in 2016.
(Credit: KING)

How many drug overdoses are happening in Washington, and how are the narcotics flowing into our state? Those are just a couple of the questions that were part of a community forum Tuesday night in Shoreline.

The most recent numbers show Washington's opioid epidemic claimed 694 lives in 2016. That same year, more than 1,400 people had to be hospitalized.

Dr. Steven Freng works with the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and he says over the last five years more young people have been affected.

"The range has dropped from mid-30s to early 40s, down into the 18-25 year old range," said Dr. Freng. "It is plentiful. It's cheap. It is easy to get. And the prescription medication crisis is essentially what led us into this."

He joined a panel of experts who came together to host a community forum. Lake Forest Park Police Chief Steve Sutton says his department responded to another overdose death this past weekend. He says the death rate is extremely high.

"It is amazing that we are at that point in this epidemic, and I would like to see that number go down. That is one of the reasons we are here tonight," said Chief Sutton.

Pharmacist Amy Justham explained how a Narcan nasal spray can serve as a reversal agent.

"It reverses the effects, particularly the respiratory depression associated with opioid overdose," said Justham.

Dr. Freng has analyzed the drug trafficking data and says the heroin gets here primarily from Southern California and Mexico.
"In many cases, Yakima is the principle player in this picture, and in fact, as much if not more of it comes up from the south to Yakima then west to Seattle," said Dr. Freng.

Dr. Freng, who has been studying drug trends for decades, says the opioid epidemic is unlike anything he has ever seen before.

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