Once again, Rio Arriba County finds itself among the deadliest places in the state for drug users. A total of 50 people died from overdose during the 12-month reporting period ending June 30, 2022. There has only been one period deadlier than this in recent county history, the year-long period ending Sept. 30, 2021, when a total of 51 drug overdose fatalities were recorded.
Other, less rural counties and cities in the state have higher drug death totals, but the rate at which residents die from drug overdoses in those places is lower than in Rio Arriba County. We have a death rate well above the state and national averages. According to CDC and U.S. Census data, the county’s overdose death rate during the year ending June 30, 2022 was 123.8 per 100,000 residents.
In Bernalillo County, a total of 448 residents died from drug overdoses during that period, but the rate of 66.2 deaths per 100,000 residents is much lower than Rio Arriba.
Much of the blame for these deaths in New Mexico is directed at the use of fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is easy for cartel chemists to make and inexpensive on the streets, perhaps as low as $10 a pill. It has replaced heroin as the drug pushed most heavily in the marketplace and is often combined with other drugs, such as meth, which can lead to a speedy death.
SUN reporter Kevin Deutsch has outlined the extent of the problem in today’s newspaper. He points out that two Mexican drug cartels have been identified as the largest suppliers of fentanyl in the state.
The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are sophisticated criminal empires and difficult to stop. Add to that the intricate criminal networks these operations can spawn, along with Rio Arriba’s high unemployment and poverty rates, and you’ve got an environment extremely fertile for drug use and the crime that accompanies it.
The addictive power of fentanyl, meth and heroin, combined with the element of despair that hangs over parts of our county, results in our residents, quite literally, killing themselves.
Long term, we need jobs and more effective outreach programs. Our schools need to emphasize teaching students about the fatal nature of the drugs so prevalent here.
Short term, we need to catch and punish criminals, drug dealers, burglars and violent men and women.
Fighting all these problems is a huge task. That’s why Española Mayor John Ramon Vigil has sounded the alarm that we need outside law enforcement to help solve these problems.
Among other benefits to catching these drug dealers and criminals is taking drugs off the street and saving lives.
Losing 50 people to drug overdoses in our small city and county is unacceptable. We must be willing to fight long and hard, while at the same time doing all we can to create jobs and help lift people from the death-grip of addiciton and poverty.