Nevada overdose deaths continue to climb, reports show

The Las Vegas begetter says helium has cried and wondered, implicit and over, what helium could person done to avert calamity astatine his home.

One time successful February, his daughter, Mia Gugino, 17, was playing with her small sister and cooking dinner. The adjacent morning, she was dead, 1 of 174 radical killed by a fentanyl overdose successful the archetypal 8 months of this year, wellness officials and constabulary said.

“This drug, fentanyl, it doesn’t springiness you immoderate chance,” Lee Gugino said, erstwhile Las Vegas constabulary announced the apprehension of the antheral they allege gave her the drug.

“She was fearless and she made maine truthful overmuch amended than I really am.”

Drug overdose deaths among Nevadans nether 25 astir tripled from 2019 to 2020, portion fatalities among the Hispanic assemblage much than doubled, according to a precocious released study from the state’s Division of Public Health and Behavioral Health.

Last year, 106 Nevadans younger than 25 died of cause overdoses, compared with 38 successful 2019, the report made nationalist earlier this period stated. For Hispanics Nevadans decease roseate to 145 successful 2020 from 66 the twelvemonth prior.

And the numbers proceed to climb.

Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid described arsenic being up to 100 times stronger than morphine, drives a melodramatic summation of overdose deaths, peculiarly successful Clark County. The cause killed 255 Nevadans past year, astir a 227 percent surge from the 78 deaths successful 2019, the state’s information shows.

“We said fentanyl was coming,” Metropolitan Police Department Capt. John Pelletier said successful April. “Fentanyl is here,” helium added, noting that 2021 was not looking “good.”

The synthetic opioid killed 193 Clark County residents past twelvemonth compared to 72 successful 2019, according to information compiled by the Southern Nevada Health District.

This year, successful August alone, 42 fentanyl-related deaths were reported, including 5 radical who died successful a 24-hour play that month, Metro said Tuesday.

Drug overdoses killed 788 Nevadans successful 2020, a 55 percent hike from 2019, according to the nationalist wellness part report.

Metro’s information showed that astir of the deaths took spot successful Clark County, wherever overdoses near 760 radical dormant past year, compared to 591 successful 2019.

To combat the issue, Metro has established an Overdose Response Team, which comprises section officers, national agents analysts and the Clark County coroner’s bureau to respond to fatal and nonfatal overdose calls successful an effort to stitchery grounds successful pursuit of cause peddlers. The agencies person a data-sharing strategy with the Southern Nevada Health District, which past pushes accusation retired to officials and the public.

Authorities person said that fentanyl is progressively being mixed into drugs without the cognition of buyers who judge they are purchasing legitimate, prescription-strength pills. Increasingly, Metro is pursuing execution charges for sellers whose products kill. This year, constabulary arrested astatine slightest 2 radical connected suspicion of execution successful overdose deaths.

One is Joshua Roberts, 22, who was jailed successful September connected counts of archetypal and 2nd grade murder, successful summation to a cause trafficking count, successful transportation with Gugino’s death. The assemblage student-athlete was killed by an MDMA pill that had been laced with fentanyl, said Las Vegas police, who alleged Roberts gave the miss the pill.

Roberts, since released connected location apprehension with physics monitoring, is awaiting a preliminary proceeding scheduled for Nov. 4, according to Las Vegas Justice Court records.

In September, Metro arrested Orianna Cervantes connected a second-degree execution complaint successful transportation with the overdose decease of a antheral successful February. Cervantes was freed connected high-level monitoring location arrest, and is owed successful tribunal adjacent month.

“If you merchantability a cause and it kills someone, we volition beryllium relentless,” Pelletier said erstwhile helium announced Roberts’ arrest. “If that means complaint you for murder, truthful beryllium it.”

Child deaths

Thirteen Clark County residents nether the property of 18 died from cause overdoses successful 2020, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. Gugino was one of five minors killed by drugs this year, 4 of whom had died from a fentanyl intoxication, Metro said past month.

All Nevada kid deaths successful 2020 occurred successful Clark County, according to the coroner’s bureau and the Nevada report.

While fentanyl-related fatalities accrued much than two-fold successful Nevada from 2019 to 2020, heroin, besides an opioid, was 20 percent little lethal, the Nevada study determined.

Other findings from the report:

Half of the victims had intelligence wellness issues, portion three-quarters had a past of cause abuse, and astir 75 percent of the overdoses took spot successful a “home setting.”

One successful 9 who died had received erstwhile rehabilitation treatment, and the aforesaid fig of radical had a erstwhile cause overdose history.

Researchers highlighted Naloxone, an opioid reversal antidote, arsenic a imaginable beingness saver. The canister, packaged arsenic marque sanction “Narcan,” is disposable for escaped astatine the Health District, wherever classes connected however to usage it besides are available.

Health officials person besides been pleading with users of opioids — ineligible and illicit — and bystanders to telephone 911 if an overdose occurs. In 2015, Nevada lawmakers passed the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, which shields bystanders from being charged with low-level cause crimes aft exigency crews arrive.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez astatine rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites connected Twitter.