Overdoses haven’t fallen as much in NV as in rest of nation; officials trying to find out why

Nevada overdose rates have dropped by 2% since last year, but that’s a smaller decline than in most of the rest of the country, and local health officials aren’t sure why.

The number of people dying from an overdose has declined roughly 16% nationally, health officials told a district’s Public Health Advisory Board meeting earlier this month.

The district recently participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epi-Aid project, a rapid investigation looking into a particular public health issue, to better understand overdose deaths in Southern Nevada.

In May, local and federal officials conducted 69 interviews with Southern Nevada residents living in overdose hot spots to get more insight into those struggling with substance use, including their housing status, and if and how they have access to overdose interventions like naloxone.

The effort’s preliminary findings were presented to the health advisory board this month. 

Final results, expected within another four to six months, will provide insights about overdose deaths and help shape recommendations for addressing the issue, officials said. 

During the next few months officials will go through the transcripts from those interviews to gather qualitative data, Marco Mendez, a public health evaluator with the health district, said in an interview.

“My expectation would be to have a richer understanding of how our residents experience the substance use care system here in Clark County, what barriers and facilitators there are to access, and how SNHD can best partner with the community to keep those rates going down,” Mendez said.

The interviews could also illuminate causes of substance use, including whether it stemmed from a legal prescription or as a way to cope with experiencing homelessness. 

Both were scenarios Mendez heard during interviews.

The health district has been able to identify “hot spots” for overdose deaths using emergency services outcomes data and hospital discharge data. 

Areas with the highest number of overdoses include the East Fremont Corridor, Valley View Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, and the UNLV area. The district identified 89101 and 89104 as the ZIP codes with high numbers of overdoses.

CDC and health district officials deployed to those areas over two-weeks in May to conduct interviews as part of its investigation. 

Of those 69 people interviewed for the project, 32 people were unhoused. 

Those counting as being housed included people residing in group homes and mental health treatment facilities, as well as apartments.

About 85% of all respondents said they hadn’t had a regular place to stay in the last year. 

The lack of housing and wraparound services were cited as barriers to care, according to the preliminary findings. 

Interviews also indicated the lack of access to Medicaid or other health insurance was is a barrier to accessing mental health and substance abuse treatment 

“We know that the amount of folks in need versus the amount of treatment that’s available doesn’t really line up,” Mendez said, nodding to“systemic issues that are ongoing as well.”

People often struggle with accessing treatment “because they’re not able to get their insurer to pay for more than one day in detox,” he said.

“In those situations it’s kind of like you come in, you detox, and they’re like, ‘All right, your insurance isn’t paying anymore. Bye,’” he said. “That can also add to the stigma and adverse experiences that lead to more substance use potentially.”

Access to Medicaid and health insurance is expected to become an even bigger barrier as policy changes such as new work requirements under President Donald Trump’s massive spending and tax cut bill passed in July 2025 take effect.

The health district initial findings didn’t indicate how many respondents relied on Medicaid or health insurance subsidies. 

“We did find that the drugs that were most frequently reported as being used by our respondents matched up with the drugs implicated most commonly based on our overdose rates,” Mendez, adding the top three are methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine. 

More people cited meth use, but two-thirds of people were aware fentanyl was likely being cut into drugs. Though people are aware of the lethality of fentanyl, they also might risk it to prevent going into withdraw, Mendez said  

Half of respondents said they used more than one substance and preferred using alone.

The findings showed that 73% called 911 to report an overdose, and 85% administered naloxone. 

One of the more surprising data points, Mendez said, was that 60% were aware of Nevada’s Good Samaritan law, which is supported to prevent punitive actions against people who call 911 to report a drug overdose.

But more than half indicated they didn’t trust the law. 

Mendez said the high percentage of people knowing about the law was still encouraging.

“People are actually aware that they are protected legally, so they shouldn’t fear helping a friend or whomever is experiencing an overdose,” he said.