Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown updated the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday about the increase in overdose deaths in the county during the past three years.

“During the past three years, our community has witnessed a distressing surge in both overdose deaths and those attributed to fentanyl,” Brown told the Board of Supervisors.

Brown said overdose deaths in the county have surged 51% in the past three years. In 2021, there were 146 overdose deaths; there were 164 in 2022 and 226 in 2023.

The county’s increase in overdose deaths from 2022 to 2023 was greater than that of San Francisco County, according to the sheriff.

Fentanyl deaths have increased 43% in the past three years. In 2021, there were 78 fentanyl overdose deaths; there were 117 in 2022 and 112 in 2023.

The surge in overdose deaths can be largely attributed to the surge in methamphetamine use, according to Brown. He said methamphetamine use is higher partly because of the increased messaging around the danger of fentanyl. 

White males ages 35 to 55 were found to make up the majority of fentanyl deaths in Santa Barbara County. There has been a 56% increase in male deaths from overdose and a 40% increase in female overdose deaths in the past three years.

For fentanyl, there was a 32% increase in male deaths and an 87% rise in female deaths.

Brown said white individuals make up the majority of overdose deaths in the county but that there was a 55% increase in Hispanic individuals dying from overdose. Similarly, with fentanyl, there was a 57% increase in Hispanic individuals dying from fentanyl and a 50% increase in white individuals dying from fentanyl in the past three years.

Geographically, in the North County, there were 74 overdose deaths in 2021, 91 in 2022 and 109 in 2023, according to Brown. In the South County, there were 73 overdose deaths in 2021, 72 in 2022 and 117 in 2023.

In terms of fentanyl, the North County saw 70 fentanyl overdose deaths in 2022 but 46 in 2023. South County fentanyl deaths doubled from 33 in 2021 to 66 in 2023.

Brown noted that the Lompoc Valley saw a drop in overdose deaths from 2022, which had 40 overdose deaths compared with 31 in 2023.

However, he said that Goleta, Isla Vista and the Santa Barbara County area have seen a surge in fentanyl deaths. There were 31 fentanyl deaths in those areas in 2021, 46 in 2022 and 62 in 2023. 

Brown told the board that a majority of overdose deaths are accidental. In 2023, only five of the 226 overdose deaths were deemed intentional suicide. 

“We used to think in the old days of an overdose oftentimes as being synonymous with a suicide,” Brown said. “But the reality is intentional suicides only comprise a very minor number of overdose deaths in our county.”

In terms of housing, a majority of overdose victims did have housing, but the number of unhoused individuals dying from overdose increased 66% in the past three years. In 2021, there were 29 unhoused overdose deaths, 36 in 2022 and 48 in 2023. 

The Sheriff’s Office began Project Opioid in 2022, which has local leaders from government, education, law enforcement, local businesses, health care and treatment, according to Brown. The goal is to prevent overdose and promote advocacy. 

Brown pointed to education, enforcement, harm reduction and treatment as the four main strategies for preventing overdoses.

He ended the presentation by asking the supervisors for narcotics resources for law enforcement as they decide on next year’s budget. 

“The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office urgently requires funding for a second narcotics team to combat the deadly drug surge that is plaguing our community,” Brown said. 

He went on to suggest a three-year team paid with one-time funding to take an “aggressive approach” to lower the number of overdose deaths. Brown said the team would cost $3.3 million, but that the Sheriff’s Office could start up a team by the end of this fiscal year.

Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann said she believes that the county already commits a lot of resources to the problem and wants to see the cities step up as well.

“This is largely an urban problem, and if the cities of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, that are really suffering the most, can’t contribute to this effort, why should we be the ones to step up each time?” Hartmann said.

She added that if the cities of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria did step up, she would support their plans.

Brown responded by explaining that all of the work being done to combat the opioid crisis hasn’t made a difference in decreasing the number of overdose deaths.

“Adding an additional team is an exigent undertaking that is the most practical thing that we can come up with to save lives while reducing the supply in the short term,” Brown said. 

He added that many local law enforcement agencies don’t have the staffing to commit to the problem, even if they wanted to.

“It’s more than we lose to homicide, suicides, traffic accidents and accidental deaths of other nature combined in our county,” Brown said. “It is a huge number of people that are dying, and we have to get that message far and wide.”

Brown’s presentation to the board can be found here.

In March, community members met at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria to raise awareness about overdose deaths.