Amid an increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses — including many caused by fentanyl misuse — Gov. Steve Sisolak and state health officials are creating a statewide task force focused on reducing and responding to the issue.

The Joint Advisory Task Force will determine how to reduce the risk of overdose, prepare the state and local jurisdictions if overdoses increase, and provide technical assistance, guidance and resources to lower risk, as well as improve overdose response and recovery.

The decision to create an overdose task force, which was announced Wednesday, comes after Nevada saw a 66 percent increase in opioid-related overdose emergency room visits and a 50 percent increase in stimulant-related overdose emergency room visits from July to August, according to Overdose Data to Action, a research group that works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide jurisdictions with information on overdoses.

From January 2018 to July 2022, Clark County saw an estimated 1,412 opioid-related overdoses, according to the Southern Nevada Health District. Sixty-five percent of those who overdosed were men. More than half of the 1,412 people who overdosed were white, while 24 percent were Hispanic/Latino, 17 percent were Black and 3 percent were Asian. 

To read the full article, visit the Nevada Independent website. This story was written by Carly Sauvageau for the Nevada Independent October 6, 2022 and shared with Noticiero Noticiero Móvil.