MINNEAPOLIS — Three people died from drug overdoses in Minneapolis in the span of less than a day, according to the city.
Each of the deaths, which happened throughout the day Thursday, Oct. 6, were separate incidents, the city said. On average, emergency responders are called to eight overdose incidents each day.
Data provided by the city shows that in the first week of the month, 55 people overdosed in Minneapolis, and so far this year, there have been 2,113 incidents in the city. In 2021, there were 2,283 overdoses and 197 deaths.
According to a report released in July, nearly 1,300 people died from overdoses in 2021 in the state of Minnesota, up 22% from the previous year. Most of those deaths were attributed to fentanyl.
“This increase in drug overdose deaths is alarming, but there are things we can do about it,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm said last summer in a statement. “One important step is to expand programs that make it easier for people to access naloxone – a medication that can reverse overdoses and save lives.”
Early statistics show that from Jan. 2022 to early Aug. 2022, 108 people died in Minneapolis from a drug overdose. "The upsurge in drug use and overdoses is a public health and public safety concern," the city said in a statement.
Doctors with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation are doing their part to curb some of these overdoses by offering several treatment options for those in need.
"There’s inpatient residential treatments, there’s day programs, there’s evening time programs, most importantly I think there’s been huge advancements in the medications that we use to treat substance use disorders, which reduces their craving for substances and actually can prevent overdose if they take it regularly," said Dr. Sara Polley.
The team at the Twin Cities Recovery Project says they're partnering with the city and Minneapolis fire departments to launch Operation Safe Stations in December.
"People will actually be able to go to the fire departments and get resources to either connecting with us as peer recovery coaches or our coaches will assist them with resources in the community to help them combat that so they'll be able to find naloxone and things of that nature," said Joseph Banks, co-founder of the Twin Cities Recovery Project and a candidate for Hennepin County Sheriff.
Last month, Bloomington Police announced the largest fentanyl seizure in the city and one of the largest in state history after they arrested a man who was in possession of more than 108,000 fentanyl pills.
Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said that amount was enough fentanyl "to kill a fifth of the entire state's population" and "enough pills to give every person in the city of Bloomington one (pill), everybody staying in the hotels, and still some left over for the people living in Richfield and Edina."
As of Sept. 29, there were 12 overdose deaths in 2022 in Bloomington, the most in the city's history.
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