Portland Overdose Deaths Increased During 90-Day Fentanyl State of Emergency

Overdose deaths increased in the Portland, Oregon, area during a 90-day state of emergency that officials declared to combat the fentanyl problem, leaving residents wondering what changes were actually implemented.

Gov. Tina Kotek (D), Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson (D), and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) all declared emergency orders on January 30 to “address the public health and public safety crisis driven by fentanyl.”

All three emergency orders directed the city, county, and state governments to commit resources to a “unified response” after the state saw a continuous increase in overdose deaths since a drug decriminalization measure passed in 2020, Breitbart News reported. 

Just the state’s fentanyl overdose rate surged by a whopping 1,530 percent since 2019, making the state home to the most dramatic increase rate in the nation.

While nearly 60 percent of Oregon voters approved of Measure 110 when it passed the legislature, newer polls have found that they regret that move just three years later.

In April, Kotek signed a bill that restored criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of drugs.

The emergency orders erected a command center to combat the fentanyl crisis, but preliminary Multnomah County overdose dashboard data that the Oregonian obtained revealed that approximately 200 people died of a suspected or confirmed overdose during those 90 days, which ended on April 29. 

This was a notable increase from the same period in 2023, with 172 people fatally overdosing in the county.

Most of the drug overdose deaths are presumed to have been caused by fentanyl. 

“It takes time to see if these initiatives, especially the broader, more upstream initiatives, yield results,” county Health Officer Richard Bruno told the publication. “That’s something our epidemiologists and a lot of the folks who are doing this work on the ground wrestle with all the time.” 

Portland-area writer Hannah Griff has been amongst those criticizing the emergency orders as ineffective, pointing out that “systemic racism” has been touted by officials as a reason for fentanyl overdoses. 

“[B]rilliant Oregon governor @TinaKotek blames the rise in fentanyl overdoses on systemic racism, rather than the rampant and permitted open-air drug use in Portland, because of course she does,” Griff posted in February, alongside a screenshot from Multnomah County’s emergency resolution:

Independent journalist Kevin Dahlgren has documented some of Portland’s saddest sights, including footage of a man desperately trying to pick fentanyl dust off of the street on Monday:

In late June, Dahlgren witnessed a fatal fentanyl overdose as emergency personnel attempted to save the male victim:

Local photographer Tara Faul has also worked to capture the despair and hypocrisy, sharing a picture of parking tickets being given in the city while others “can take a dump on the sidewalk while smoking fentanyl”: