Let’s take a look at Orange County (Orlando) #Florida drug data. 2020 was a record year - 447 drug overdose deaths and another 2614 nonfatal ODs. Rx opioid dispensing trend has 📉 while ODs keep 📈, due to illicit drugs like street #fentanyl. Check the thread for my analysis 🧵🪡 
2/ The drug poisoning/overdose death rate per 100k people graph shows the rates for All Drug ODs and Opioid-involved ODs both trending up. Most large metro areas in America experienced an increase from 2019-2020, as experts claimed the COVID pandemic exacerbated drug ODs.
3/ The Drug Poisoning/Overdose Deaths graph shows the steady raw increase of OD deaths from year to year. In 2020, Orange County exceeded 400 OD deaths for the first time ever.
4/ Rx opioids have rec’d the public blame for the 📈 of drug overdoses. The Prescription Opioid Dispensing per 100 People graph shows a 📉 of Rx opioid dispensing - implying less Rx opioid diversions into the wrong hands. One would expect OD deaths to 📉, but they are still 📈.
5/ The Nonfatal Overdoses graph paints more of a story, showing the nonfatal ODs that required medical help. Opioid-involved ODs are still 📈 while Rx opioid dispensing is 📉, which indicates illicit opioids are the likely culprit for the 📈 in ODs in recent years.
6/“Opioid-involved” and “heroin-involved” overdoses are recorded, but the data is not specific for “fentanyl-involved” ODs. Heroin-involved ODs remain ~stable while Opioid-involved ODs 📈 from 2019 to 2020. Rx opioids or heroin aren’t causing the 📈 in ODs, its illicit fentanyl.
7/ The Drug Arrests data don’t provide much info here for specific drugs. There are statistics that indicate most drug arrests are for marijuana, so it wouldn’t be accurate to discuss the prevalence of illicit opioids with this data. The pandemic may be reason for the big 2020 📉
8/ Naloxone is the “opioid overdose reversal” treatment. The Naloxone Administered graph provides the count of drug overdose scenes in which first responders or others on scene used naloxone/narcan on the person overdosing.
9/ From 2017-2019, the count for Naloxone administered was ~2900-3000. We see a 📉 of ~400 Naloxone admin from 2019-2020 due to the pandemic, which could be a factor in the 📈 of 71 overdose deaths in the same time period.
10/ I redid this thread because I made a minor mistake in my post last night. In the first graph of my Orange County tweet last night, Floridas All drug OD death rate was not correct. I accidentally posted Floridas opioid-OD death rate. But that is now fixed in this tweet. My bad
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