Fentanyl overdose deaths in King County in 2023 are occurring at a higher rate per day than last year — a year that recorded more than 700 deaths from the epidemic.

In 2022, fentanyl was responsible for the deaths of 708 people, an average of 1.94 a day. But, as of March 14, fentanyl has already killed 167 people in King County, an average of 2.29 a day, according to King County Public Health.

“And the King County morgue can’t keep up with the unclaimed dead. These are people dying with no identity,” said Bryan Suits, host of The Bryan Suits Show on KTTH. “And, with the penetration of Narcan everywhere, it’s in a vending machine just up the hill or on Capitol Hill, this is not supposed to be happening, but it’s happening anyway.”

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Suits went on to talk about the dangers of fentanyl and how accessible it has become among children.

“That is what’s killing kids. They think they’re taking their parents’ painkillers and doling them out to each other at school, and they’re actually the fentanyl-laced blue pills that they smoke, the M-30s. It’s fatal the first time, and test strips should be more readily available,” Suits said.

Listen to the rest of Bryan Suits’ discussion on the raging fentanyl epidemic below:

Listen to the Bryan Suits Show weekday mornings from 6 – 9 a.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.