Fentanyl fuels record homeless deaths in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Fentanyl fueled a record number of homeless deaths last year in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, according to an annual county report released Friday that officials described as showing the peak of the fentanyl crisis in the area.

The report found that 456 homeless people died in the county in 2023 — the highest number on record and a 45% jump compared to 2022. Last year’s deaths included 282 from unintentional drug overdose — more than double the previous year — with fentanyl contributing to 89% of those fatalities.

The increase in fentanyl-related deaths among homeless people mirrors national trends, the county said in a news release, and reflects the spread of the substance in recent years from the East Coast across the Western U.S. In 2017, fentanyl was recorded as contributing to the death of one homeless person in the county; by 2023, that number had reached 251.

“The devastating toll fentanyl is taking on our community is starkly apparent in this report and it is heartbreaking,” Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in the news release. “This is a moment for our community to grieve alongside more than 450 families who lost loved ones in 2023 and to continue providing and fighting for more behavioral health, supportive housing and other resources to respond.”

Methamphetamine also contributed to 81% of 2023 homeless overdose deaths.

Multnomah County Health Officer Richard Bruno said the report “hits close to the heart,” as many of the people who died were patients that he cared for in clinic. But he added that he remained optimistic about the future, following a local and state emergency declaration to address the fentanyl crisis.

“As we are seeing fentanyl overdose deaths decreasing in 2024, we are hopeful that future reports will hold much lower numbers,” he said in the news release.

Fourteen deaths were due to homicide, and 26 deaths were attributed to suicide. Twenty-two deaths were transportation-related, with the report noting that homeless people last year were 58 times more likely to die from a transportation-related injury compared to the county’s general population.

There were no deaths due to heat and one due to cold exposure, according to the report.

The average age at death was 46 years, roughly 30 years younger than the national life expectancy at birth.

Claire Rush, The Associated Press