Opioids and Overdose Prevention

Get help

If you or someone you care about is struggling with drug or alcohol use, there is help available through the Washington County Crisis Line at 503-291-9111. The line is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Hawthorn Walk-in Center is a confidential and free resource in Washington County. For other substance use treatment, Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), and peer support, see this listing or OHA's Substance Use Disorder Services Directory.

If a youth you know is struggling with drug or alcohol use, they can contact the Oregon YouthLine (text or call) at 877-968-8491 or text 'teen2teen' at 839863.

Washington County’s harm reduction program aims to protect the community and promote public safety by reducing potential harms from injection drug use such as the spread of infections like HIV and hepatitis C, syringe litter in communities, and overdose deaths. Visit the harm reduction program page to learn about local syringe exchange locations and services.

Overdose is a medical emergency!

If you or someone you know is using drugs, there is a risk for overdose. Assume anything not given by a pharmacy or your medical provider is fake and could contain a fatal dose of fentanyl or another potentially fatal drug. Know the signs of overdose, don't use alone, and use the overdose reversal drug naloxone.

Opioids and fentanyl can cause breathing to slow or stop. This decreases the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain. If not treated immediately, an overdose can result in organ failure and death. Overdoses can occur within a few minutes to over a couple hours.

Signs of an overdose:

• Difficult or unable to wake up
• Slow or no breathing
• Bluish or pale lips and fingernails
• Pale or clammy skin
• Abnormal snoring or breathing sounds
• Vomiting or foaming at the mouth

If someone is unconscious or has any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Reduce overdose risk

What you can do to reduce overdose risk if you or someone you know uses drugs:

• Don’t use drugs when you are alone. Have someone with you so they can help if you overdose and lose consciousness.
• Don’t trust your drug tolerance. Drug content and potency is not predictable, even within the same batch. Even people who have a high tolerance for opioids face an increased risk of death because of the inconsistency in the drug supply. Always go slow and do a test amount.
• Avoid mixing drugs. This increases the overdose risk. Opioids, alcohol and benzodiazepines (e.g., Xanax, Valium) slow your breathing. Read more on CDC's website.

What are opioids?

Opioids are a group of medications prescribed for pain. They are highly addictive. Some examples of opioids are Oxycontin, Vicodin and Percocet. Prescription pain medicine can help treat severe and sudden pain, such as pain from a car accident or surgery. Opioids can also lead to addiction and death from accidental overdose. Heroin and fentanyl are opioids that are sold on the street and can be bought in pill or powder form.

Talk to your doctor about the risks of using opioids. Ask if there are other options to manage your pain. See this pain education toolkit for more information.

It is not safe to use someone else's medication or to use prescriptions in any way other than how your doctor instructed.

What is fentanyl?

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid prescribed for severe pain and anesthesia, but fentanyl is also illegally manufactured and distributed in the community. Fentanyl is tasteless and odorless. A tiny amount can kill. It can be sold in many colors and forms including pills, powder and chalk-like blocks.

Cheap, counterfeit substances containing fentanyl are thought to be fueling an increase in fatal drug overdoses across the Portland Metro region. It is very difficult to tell if they are counterfeit. Fentanyl is often mixed into fake pills made to look like prescription Oxycontin and Xanax that come from a pharmacy. Counterfeit pills are especially dangerous because people are often unaware that fentanyl is in them. People who buy these from the internet, social media, friends or dealers may unknowingly be getting fentanyl.

Get the facts about fentanyl on the CDC's website.

Get rid of unneeded prescriptions

Getting rid of unused prescriptions can help prevent substance misuse and accidental poisoning. When medicine is in your house, keep it in a secure place. Get rid of old, extra or unused substances by taking them to a local drop-off site. Never flush drugs down the toilet or put them in the garbage.

Secondhand fentanyl exposure

There are no known local cases of a bystander or responder suffering serious health effects from breathing in secondhand meth or fentanyl smoke. There is very little risk to bystanders, people responding to overdose, or others who may be in an area where people are using drugs. Small amounts of fentanyl can be deadly when used directly as a drug, but breathing in secondhand fentanyl smoke or touching small amounts of fentanyl will not cause serious side effects. You cannot overdose from fentanyl by briefly touching it. Secondhand fentanyl smoke cannot get you high or cause an overdose. It is safe to help others who may have used fentanyl and are in distress.

What is xylazine?

Xylazine or “tranq” is an animal tranquilizer used by veterinarians that is sometimes added to recreational drugs, such as opioids or methamphetamine. It is not approved for use in humans. It cannot be easily identified by appearance alone. Xylazine has been found in our region, but it is not widespread at this time. However, you should be aware of the presence of xylazine in the community and the associated risks. In addition to causing deeper sedation, xylazine has also been associated with severe skin wounds. These wounds are often at the site of injection, but can be seen far from the site of drug use and may even happen in people who have smoked xylazine. Learn more about xylazine on CDC's website.

Provider health alert, April 19, 2023

Publications and FAQs

Fact sheets

Posters

Data sources

• Oregon Overdose Prevention Dashboard
• Oregon Health Authority data reports: This includes OHA state health plans, prescribing guidelines, data dashboards and reports.
• CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS): Comprehensive drug overdose death data provides collected from death certificates and medical examiner/coroner reports (including scene findings, autopsy reports, and full postmortem toxicology findings).
• 2021 NSDUH Annual National Report | CBHSQ Data (samhsa.gov): Provides national and state-level data on mental health and the use of tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs (including the non-medical use of prescription drugs). Information is used to support prevention and treatment programs, monitor substance use trends, estimate the need for treatment, and inform public health policy.
• State Medical Examiner Reports
• Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program (HIDTA) Threat Assessment: Publishes an annual analysis of drug trafficking and related activities in Oregon and Idaho to provide information for the development of counter-drug strategy.
• Tri-County Region Opioid Trends 2016

Strategic Plans

• Oregon Health Authority's 2020-2025 Statewide Strategic Plan
• OHA's Reducing Opioid Overdose and Misuse