Welcome to Drug Safe Solano
Unfortunately, opioid abuse does not discriminate. People from all walks of life, all ages, and socio-economic backgrounds are impacted by what the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found to be an opioid epidemic. The public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the effects of the opioid epidemic. And now, fentanyl is making the epidemic worse. It is cheaper and more potent/addictive than heroin, it is often mixed with other drugs, both illicit and prescription style drugs to make counterfeit products that are often indistinguishable from the legally purchased products. Taking one of these pills can be fatal if it contains fentanyl or worse, Carfentanil! These products have infiltrated the non-pharmacy drug market in Solano County!
- In 2021, Solano had an annual crude opioid related mortality rate of 12.9 per 100,000 residents, a 48% increase from 2020
- Many of these deaths can be attributed to designer counterfeit products containing fentanyl
- The age group most impacted by overdose is 25-29 year-olds, with a crude rate of 38.51 per 100,000 residents
- In 2020, Solano had an annual crude opioid related morality rate of 8.7 per 100,000 residents, a 13% increase from 2019.
- Currently this crisis is disproportionately affecting Black/African Americans as well as the Latinx and Native American populations
- In 2019, Solano had an annual crude opioid related mortality rate of 7.53 per 100,00 residents, which represents a 235% increase from 2017
- In 2018, Solano had 277,436 opioid prescriptions written for a population of 446,610. There were enough prescriptions written for over half the county; even though prescription rates had dropped 12% from 2016-2018
- In 2017, Solano had 312,952 opioid prescriptions written, or about 1 prescription for every adult resident. Solano’s opioid prescription rate was more than 20% higher than the State average: 625 per thousand (Solano) and 517 per thousand (State). Solano’s opioid overdose ER visits rate was roughly 17% higher than the State average
Statistics from California Opioid Overdose Surveillance Dashboard
The Solano Coalition for Better Health took the lead and formed Drug Safe Solano, formerly the Solano Opioid Safety Coalition in 2018.
Our Vision Statement
All Solano County residents have equitable access to opportunities that enable them to lead healthy lives, within a safe and healthy community free of harmful drugs.
Our Mission Statement
The mission of Drug Safe Solano is threefold:
- We seek to decrease the stigma of addiction, serve as a resource for patients and professionals, and increase public education of the opioid crisis and the use of Naloxone.
- We are committed to saving lives by preventing opioid overdoses and deaths through reducing the number of opioid prescriptions and providing education and resources for the safe disposal of prescription opioids.
- We will work to expand access to Medication-Assisted Treatment and other forms of treatment, in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
