SEATTLE — There have now been more overdose deaths in King County this year than in all of 2020, according to data from Seattle-King County Public Health.
As of Monday, the health department recorded 524 overdose deaths in the county in 2023, surpassing the entire annual total of 2020, when the county saw 508 overdose deaths.
The county is on pace to exceed last year's record-breaking total of 1,000 overdose deaths. A majority of overdose deaths involve fentanyl, according to the health department data.
“Nowadays, I feel like fentanyl has a hand in everything," said Hamaz Raj, a recovering fentanyl user who spoke with KOMO News. “At the end, I made a choice – either my wife and mom or this random drug that came into town a few years ago.”
