Fentanyl ODs Spur Health Crisis

Protesters advocate for harm reduction rather than further criminalization amid opioid crisis (Courtesy of Texas Harm Reduction Alliance)

Earlier in the year, the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office reported that fentanyl-related overdoses had increased by 237% since 2020, making overdose the leading cause of accidental death in the county. In May, the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance organized a rousing town hall that brought first responders, drug users, homeless outreach organizations, and public officials together and highlighted the urgency of expanding the city's and county's response to the opioid crisis. The declaration of a public health emergency unlocked $350,000 in new funding and staffing for local harm reduction organizations and the county, and a plan to increase availability of methadone treatment for opioid addiction through Integral Care.

But the problem persists. The first six months of 2022 saw 118 fentanyl-related deaths in Travis County, the same number as in all of 2021. Advocates stress the need for fentanyl testing strips to be legalized (a measure with bipartisan support in the upcoming legislative session) and for the overdose-reversing drug naloxone (Narcan) to be widely distributed and in the hands of regular people, not just first responders. To that end, at a Nov. 28 press conference, County Judge Andy Brown provided an update: Austin Public Health has already given out 9,000 doses of naloxone to its harm reduction network, and there are 180 doses now available in bars Downtown. Another $175,000 is funding new peer support specialists for users, based at Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center and The Other Ones Foundation's Esperanza Community, both in South Austin.