Record Number of Drug Overdoses in San Francisco in 2023

Fentanyl implicated in majority of cases as city grapples with escalating crisis.

San Francisco has recorded the highest number of drug overdoses in its history in 2023, surpassing the previous record set in 2020.
The majority of these overdoses involved fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin.
Of the 752 overdoses recorded so far, men accounted for 623, women for 127, and non-binary individuals for two.
Despite efforts by local and state officials to crack down on drug dealers and disrupt the drug trafficking market, the number of overdoses continues to rise.
San Francisco has increased resources to combat the drug problem, including expanding access to substance abuse treatment and removing barriers to medications for addiction treatment.