SEATTLE, Wash. – A University of Washington survey shows fentanyl use in Washington State has shot up at an alarming rate.
UW’s Addiction, Drug & Alcohol Institute found that 42% of survey respondents reported use of fentanyl over a three month course, more than double the 18% reported in 2019.
Fentanyl was the 4th most used drug among respondents, following methamphetamine, heroin, and a mix of those two colloquially known as “goofball.”
Consumption via smoking rather than injecting has increased as well, a concerning trend, as the majority of lethal overdoses are from smoking these drugs.
Researchers say that these findings underscore the “need for immediate and substantial scale up of evidence-based public health interventions, community education, and substance use treatment.”