Yakima Council to Declare August 29 Overdose Awareness Day Amid Rising Death Toll

When the Yakima City Council meets on Tuesday council members will be talking about a major crisis hitting Yakima and many other cities, the overdose crisis.

APPROVING A PROCLAMATION

Council members are expected to read and approve a proclamation which designates August 29 as Overdose Awareness Day, a time to recognize the many people who have died of overdoses in the community. So far 67 people have died of overdoses in Yakima County. A record 146 people died of overdoses in 2024.

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THE OPEN BORDER

Yakima County Coroner Marshal Slight says the increase in drugs coming into the America and the valley over the last 4 years through the open border caused an increase in overdoses not only in Yakima but all around America.
Now with the border fully closed Slight says he expects to see a decrease in overdose deaths this year and so far it looks like that may happen. He says at this same time last year there was 80 overdoses.

NO RECORD THIS YEAR?

If that happens this year with numbers lower than last it'll be the first time in at least 3 years overdose numbers have dropped in the Yakima valley.
Slight says a record-breaking 146 overdose deaths in 2024 broke the record of 96 overdose deaths in 2023.

NARCAN SAVES LIVES

Hundreds if not thousands of lives have been saved in Yakima and the state through the use of Narcan, an anti-opioid drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Narcan is increasingly accessible in Yakima, with vending machines available at key locations, including the Opportunities Industrialization Center at 717 Fruitvale Blvd. and Yakamart on Fort Road in Toppenish.