Overdose deaths jumped in Alaska last year, even as they declined nationally

Alaska had a record number of opioid overdose deaths last year, despite a reduction in deaths nationally. 357 Alaskans died of overdose in 2023 and about three quarters of those overdose deaths included opioids, according to the state health department. Alaska was also the state with the highest increase in opioid overdose deaths per capita, rising by 44.5%. 

Lindsey Kato, director of Alaska’s Public Health Division, said the increase in overdose deaths is heartbreaking. But she said Alaskans are saving lives by distributing and using naloxone for overdoses. 

“What I do know is if we hadn’t been doing what we were doing, at least, we would be seeing about 100 more overdose deaths, most likely, than we saw last year,” Kato said. “So we need to not only continue what we’re doing, but we need to do more.”

The United States saw fewer overdoses in 2023 than in the previous year, down about 10%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC data shows Washington and Oregon also saw large increases in deaths, compared to 2022. This spring, Oregon ended its experiment with decriminalizing all drugs, partly because the state saw such a big increase in overdose deaths. 

Healthcare workers in Alaska are also seeing an increase in fentanyl laced with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, sometimes called the street name “tranq.” 

Katie Schneider, a physician assistant who runs Southcentral Foundation’s detox facility in Anchorage, estimates about five percent of fentanyl in the city now has xylazine, and it causes serious problems because it wasn’t designed for human use.

“It causes vascular necrosis, which means, the blood vessels inside die, and it causes horrific sores,” Schneider said. “And that’s not just from using [the drug intravenously], it’s from being taken in any way, because it causes those blood vessels to die, which is really serious and scary–really, really bad.”

According to the DEA, mixing xylazine with opioids also increases the risk of overdose. Xylazine doesn’t respond to opioid overdose reversal drugs like Narcan, but experts still always recommend treating someone overdosing with Narcan or a similar reversal medicine. 

Alaskans who want to help someone misusing drugs can call 2-1-1 to connect with resources in their area. 

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Rachel Cassandra, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage

Rachel Cassandra covers health and wellness for Alaska Public Media. Reach her atrcassandra@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Rachel here.