PORT ANGELES – The number of overdose deaths in Clallam County decreased slightly last year. But the drug contributing to the overdoses has rapidly changed.

Prosecutor and coroner Mark Nichols says they expect 28 total overdose deaths for 2022 when toxicology reports are finished. That’s down from 36 in 2021. Officials say the 2021 overdose number was higher due to the coronavirus lockdowns, a trend seen nationwide.

Nichols says overdoses last year showed a mix of drugs in most cases.

“Of note is that the most commonly abused drugs that we saw in 2022 are methamphetamine and Fentanyl. Of the 18 confirmed cases, in 12 of the 18, the blood draw revealed that people had a cocktail of compounds within their system. Methamphetamine and Fentanyl was quite common but we also see marijuana. We see ethanol or alcohol in a person’s bloodstream as well”,  said Nichols.

County legal death investigator Nathan Millet adds that toxicology reports show opiates, like heroin, and over-the counter drugs used illicitly have been almost completely replaced by fentanyl in Clallam County.

“Fentanyl is so powerful and it’s so easy to get a hold of, that people aren’t bothering trying to doctor shop or shoplift from the CVS for Benadryl or whatever. So because it’s everywhere, it’s cheap, it’s easy to get a hold of just easier to to get fentanyl,” said Millett

Millett says in 2021 there were 15 overdose deaths in Clallam County that included opiates. Of the confirmed OD’s last year, there was only one. There were six deaths in 2021 that included various prescription or over-the-counter drugs. In 2022, there were zero.