Opioid deaths are focus of concern in Spokane, but new law could help

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday confirmed one of three local fatal drug overdoses March 9 was related to heroin.

That news was released shortly before Gov. Jay Inslee signed a sweeping bill designed to make it easier for drug addicts to get treatment in Washington.

The bill, known as Ricky’s Law, integrated the state’s treatment systems for chemical dependency and mental health, in theory making it easier for people to be committed involuntarily for drug treatment. The law also will build new detox facilities across the state.

It was supported by a number of drug treatment providers in Spokane, who said it would help address the epidemic of opioid and heroin addiction sweeping the state.

William L. Hubbard, 21, was one of the three young people who died March 9. His death was caused by an overdose of heroin and methamphetamine, the medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.

Toxicology results for the overdose deaths on the same day of Yana Olar, 25, also in Spokane, and Jessica M. Peterson, 29, in Spokane Valley, are still pending.

The overdose deaths prompted a lengthy discussion at a March meeting of the city’s Public Safety Committee about heroin and opioid addiction and deaths in Spokane County. Heroin overdose deaths have been skyrocketing across the country for several years and nearly tripled in Washington from 2010 to 2014, data from the state health department show.

Those deaths mostly occur on the west side of the Cascades, however. Spokane’s death rates from heroin haven’t come close to those in King or Pierce counties, and methamphetamine remains involved in more fatal drug overdoses than heroin here, annual reports from the medical examiner’s office show.

Kim Papich, a spokeswoman for the Spokane Regional Health District, told City Council members at the March meeting that it’s important to focus on both problems. Meth has “dropped out of the conversation” as heroin has taken over, she said.

Hubbard’s death underscores the fact that many drug overdose deaths involve multiple substances. Meth and heroin are a common combination. Of the 666 fatal overdoses statewide involving opioids in 2014, 130 also listed meth on the death certificate, and more than half listed multiple drugs.

At the Public Safety Committee meeting, Spokane police Capt. Eric Olsen said officers in his drug unit have seen an increase in heroin seizures recently and have diverted resources from meth trafficking to tackle the problem. Fire officials also reported seeing an uptick in overdoses in the early months of 2016.

Another young man died of an apparent heroin overdose shortly after the three March 9 deaths. He had been clean for six months, Olsen said.

Heroin seized by officers on the street has been found to be between 16 and 80 percent pure, which makes it all too easy for someone to ingest a fatal dose.

If someone’s been using a less pure drug and shoots up with something that’s 80 percent pure, they’re “going to overdose,” Olsen said.

Spokane’s heroin overdose numbers have not increased to levels experienced in much of the East and Midwest. Olsen said officers haven’t seized any drugs laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opiate that’s up to 50 times more powerful – and much more fatal – than heroin. In some New England states, fatal fentanyl overdoses are outpacing heroin.

“Spokane hasn’t caught up to where we’re going to be,” Olsen said. “This is something that we’re going to be combating for time to come.”