Hey, there! Log in / Register
Fatal overdoses increasing in Boston
By adamg on Sat, 07/08/2023 - 9:14am
The Boston Public Health Commission reports the number of fatal opioid overdoses in Boston increased 7% in 2022, and that the 352 deaths is a 36% increase over the number in 2019 - more than double the increase seen statewide.
A key factor for this increase is the role of fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, involved in more than 90% of opioid-related deaths in both the state and among Boston residents in 2022. Xylazine, known as “tranq,” an animal tranquilizer has also been increasingly found in the drug supply and increases the risk of overdose through oversedation.
The commission adds:
The 2022 data show that opioid-related overdoses have disproportionately impacted Black and Latinx individuals in Boston: 30% of all opioid overdose deaths in Boston were among Black individuals and 21% were among Latinx individuals. Opioid overdose deaths among Black individuals in Boston increased by 29% from 2021-2022, and deaths among Latinx individuals increased by 9% from 2021-2022.
From 2020-2022 combined, the average annual opioid overdose mortality rate for Black and Latinx residents was 66% and 31% higher than white residents, respectively. The rate of overdose death for Black residents from 2020-2022 is a 130% increase from the rate observed from 2017-2019. Data compiled by BPHC in its recent Health of Boston Report show the leading cause of premature deaths among male Black and Latinx residents for 2017 through 2021 combined was accidents, with opioid overdoses accounting for most of these deaths. These data emphasize the need for increased attention to equitable access to harm reduction prevention, and treatment services in Boston.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Question?
Do they count overdoses that happen on state and MBTA property in the city of Boston?
Yes.
Yes.
No they don't the Mbta sees
No they don't the Mbta sees overdoses on the regular and I can tell you this a fact coming from a ex employee... it's sad and nothing is being done at all
Shouldn't the headline be "
Shouldn't the headline be " The BPHC reports on the results of its work over the past two years."
No.
No.
Why don't you volunteer with public health outreach
Lots of good organizations are always looking for help.
Just stop
Can we not make everything about race?
Aw
Maybe you want to move to Oklahoma, where the state's public-education superintendent says the Tulsa Race Massacre wasn't about race.
In the meantime and in other parts of the world, part of a competent public-health system is identifying which communities are particularly hard hit by something, figure out why and then take steps to combat the problem.
So, yeah, Oklahoma or Florida might be up your alley.
Multiple surveys have shown
Multiple surveys have shown that a majority of Hispanic and Latino people cannot stand the term "Latinx."
A friend of mine said he'd rather be called a slur than Latinx.
Can you cite any of those surveys?
I've certainly heard anecdotally what you are saying, but then I also see those who would be described by that term making consistent use of the term.
Citations
As of 2020, the respected Pew Research says about one in four U.S. Hispanics have heard of the word Latinx, but just 3% use it:
www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/11/about-one-in-four-u-s-hispanics-...
And in 2021, NBC News, at this URL, had this to say:
www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/many-latinos-say-latinx-offends-or-bothers...
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the oldest Latino civil rights organization in America, has dropped "Latinx" from its official communications because it’s so unliked by most Latinos. That decision came last week after a new survey of 800 registered voters of Latin American descent showed that only 2 percent described themselves as Latinx. The poll, conducted in November by Bendixen and Amandi International, a Miami-based Democratic firm, also showed that 68 percent prefer Hispanic and 21 percent favor Latino. A whopping 40 percent found the word Latinx offensive.
These are just a few examples. You can find many more reputable examples online.
Sorry for the delay!
Sorry for the delay because I was at work and just got home.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/08/11/901398248/hispanic-la...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/05/us/latinx-gallup-poll-preference-trnd/ind...
Thank you!
I always appreciate citations, it gives us an opportunity to discuss factual information and data and allows us to understand where we are basing our statements.
The way I read these articles, there isn't a strong preference FOR the term, in fact there isn't a strong awareness of the term "Latinx" but I don't see any direct statement to say that there is strong opposition to the term.
The Pew study in the NPR article from 2020 reports 3/4 of the people the term would describe reported being UNAWARE of the term.
The Gallup study from 2021 in the CNN article states about which of the terms, Hispanic, Latino, or Latinx, they prefer:
I found a couple of more recent articles but they seem to cite the 2020 and 2021 Pew and Gallup studies, I can't tell if there's been more recent polling on the terminology.
My conclusion on those references would be that the jury is still out on what term is best to use.
The articles I found that were more recent but seemed to use the same data yours did:
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/388532/controversy-term-...
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/why-is-latinx-still-used-if-hispanics-h...
Can we stop making this about opioids?
I mean, people are always dying, so why do we have to make this about opioids?
Is there some sort of correlation between these deaths and opioids? Is there some sort of correlation between these deaths and race?
the white people's song, from time immemorial
"do we have to make everything about race?"
thank you for your rendition, so moving.
If there's nothing to do with race here
then wouldn't the data show that, in that there wouldn't be any disproportionate impacts on different racial groups?
No.
No.
Correlation does not imply causation.
Just stop
Whining about "making it about race" when the sociodemographic and historical factors make it about race.
Deal with your fragile feels offline, please.
It seems like there is more
It seems like there is more and more fentanyl and trank and whatever else mixed in to street drugs than before the pandemic.
You just have to assume with
You just have to assume with hard drugs (not pot) that there is fentanyl in it. Coke users need to get Narcan.