After years of steep increases, the number of overdose deaths in Arizona leveled off from 2022 to 2023, according to new data from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The 2023 Opioid Overdoses Surveillance Report, released this month, shows 1,928 Arizonans died from opioid overdoses in 2023, an increase of one death from 2022.
Overdose deaths nationwide have been decreasing in the last few years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Martin Celaya, with the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Assessment and Evaluation, said Arizona is also seeing some positive trends. The number of prescriptions for opioids in Arizona decreased 20% from 2019 to 2023. Meanwhile, access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone has increased significantly. Since the state health department in 2017 began allowing any Arizona licensed pharmacist to give out Naloxone without a prescription, Arizona has seen more than an eightfold increase in the amount of the medication dispensed at pharmacies.
But with nearly 2,000 lives lost in 2023, Celaya said the state still has a long way to go.
“Overdoses still continue to be a leading public health challenge here,” Celaya said. “It’s still pretty early to assess whether this is a stabilization of the rate or whether it’s really declining.”
Celaya said certain demographic groups in the state have been disproportionately impacted by overdose deaths. The report notes from 2017 to 2023, Native Americans in Arizona saw the fastest increase in overdose fatality rates — rising from 2.7 to 24.5 deaths per 100,000 people. During the same time period, the death rate among Black Arizonans more than tripled from 12.5 to 41.9 deaths per 100,000.
“That really focuses our attention to have more tailored, community centered approaches to this epidemic,” Celaya said. “We need to be partnering with the community and meeting people where they're at and offering culturally relevant and competent interventions.”
The report shows rural areas of the state, including Apache, Navajo and Gila Counties are seeing the highest rates of overdose deaths.
“So we’re working hard with those partners to saturate the area with Naloxone, lifesaving medicine, but also communication,” Celaya said.
Celaya said synthetic opioids such as fentanyl remain the leading cause of overdose deaths in the state. But he said fentanyl used in combination with methamphetamine is a growing problem.
The state also continues to see an annual spike in overdose deaths during the month of July, suggesting Arizona’s extreme heat exacerbates the dangers of drugs.
