A Troubling Rise in Drug Overdose Deaths Among Latinos
ISTOCK.COM/DARWIN BRANDIS
Connecting state and local government leaders
New research finds drug-related fatalities have been climbing for Latinos nationwide and in California and suggests policymakers should focus more on the issue.
The drug overdose rate among Latinos increased dramatically in the U.S. in recent years, rising by 158% between 2014 and 2017, according to a new research from the Drug Policy Alliance.
Illicit opioid use is driving the rise, researchers found. Their study zeroed in on California and found that opioid-involved overdose fatalities among Latinos in there nearly doubled between 2016 and 2019 from 2.59 to 5.07 per 100,000 people in the state.
Jeannette Zanipatin, director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s California Policy Office noted that overdose deaths among the Latino population have historically been lower than other racial and ethnic groups. “We are starting to see a very troubling trend,” she said.
Nationwide in 2017, fentanyl was the most commonly involved drug in overdose deaths among Latinos, involved in 40.2% of deaths, followed by heroin 31.2%, and cocaine 26.8%.
Prescription opioids contributed to the majority of Latino overdose deaths in California since at least 2006—the rate here was stable for a decade, but increased by 138% between 2015 and 2019 to 3.75 per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, fentanyl-involved overdose deaths increased among the Latino population in California saw a 35-fold increase between 2013 and 2019.
The report also notes that methamphetamine-involved overdoses are on the rise in California.
It includes a number of policy recommendations that could help combat the rising overdose deaths, but in general says more attention and resources need to be directed toward addressing the problem specifically within Latino communities.
“This research is a canary in the coal mine warning us that it’s time to wake up and ensure Latino populations in California—and across the country—receive the same attention that has been paid to other communities,” says Zanipatain.
More about the findings can be found here.
Brent Woodie an associate editor at Route Fifty.
NEXT STORY: Matthew McConaughey is Flirting with a Run for Governor. But His Politics Remain a Mystery.