Fatal drug overdoses in San Francisco rose almost 25% in January from the end of 2023, but fell 21% from the prior January.
The City recorded 66 overdose deaths in the first month of 2024, according to the latest data released Wednesday by the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office. All but 14 of January’s deaths were attributed to fentanyl, while four were linked to the tranquilizer xylazine.
Fifty-three people died of overdoses in December 2023, the final month of a year in which San Francisco recorded more fatal overdoses than any other year since The City started collecting data in 2020.
San Francisco officials revised the 2023 totals to 813 deaths, seven more than the initial preliminary data published last month. The total overdose deaths for 2023 increased more than 25% from 2022, when The City recorded 649 such deaths.
San Francisco attributed more than 80% of last year’s overdose deaths to fentanyl. Deaths linked to xylazine, a drug commonly used as a tranquilizer in veterinary procedures, increased to 36 in 2023 from zero the previous year.