That’s how many drug overdose deaths Philadelphia reported last year, up 11% from 2021. The fatalities dramatically increased among the city’s minority population, according to a new report from the city’s Department of Public Health. Reflecting trend lines in several other major cities, between 2018 and 2021, drug fatalities among Black and Hispanic individuals increased 87% and 43%, respectively, in the total number of drug overdose deaths, while drug fatalities among white individuals dropped 12% over the same time period. While fentanyl was present in the vast majority of the overdoses in 2022, fatalities have increasingly become multi-drug occurrences, with 70% of all overdoses involving stimulants like cocaine, a 3% increase from the year prior.

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