Meth remains Oahu’s top overdose killer

Methamphetamine continues to be the most deadly drug on Oahu, in contrast to a national trend of soaring deaths related to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, according to a new state dashboard that tracks metrics related to substance abuse and mental health disorders.

Overall, during the two-year period spanning 2020-21, there were 131 overdose deaths, 107 of which were attributable, at least in part, to methamphetamine. Opiates contributed to another 37 deaths. Many of the overdose deaths involved more than one drug.

The data also lists cannabis as a factor in 28 overdose deaths during that period. The University of Hawaii, which was among the partners that helped create the dashboard, didn’t respond to questions asking to explain what role cannabis played in the deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which collects state data, says that while a fatal overdose caused solely by cannabis is unlikely, smoking or ingesting too much can lead to a fast heart rate, heightened blood pressure and hallucinations.

While the dashboard says it tracks statewide data, the posted figures for overdose deaths pertain only to Oahu, and the website cautions that they are likely underestimates, as some deaths are still being processed.

The online portal was created by UH, the state Department of Health and 14 other partner organizations with the help of a $4.4 million grant from the CDC, according to a UH press release. The data on overdose deaths is pulled from death certificates, coroner reports and postmortem toxicology reports.

The dashboard also includes figures for emergency room discharges related to substance abuse. Alcohol was by far the biggest factor and is listed as a cause in 33,854 ER visits related to substance abuse in the years 2018-21. Stimulants, including methamphetamine, is listed as a cause for 6,287 visits, and cannabis, 3,684 visits. In many of the visits, multiple drugs were involved.

The data also tracks what portion of the patients were suffering from substance abuse and mental health disorders.

Additionally, the portal is keeping tabs on the number of calls to the Hawaii CARES crisis helpline, which assists people needing help for substance abuse or mental health problems. Between April and September the center logged 53,000 calls.

“This behavioral health dashboard is of importance to Hawai‘i because it promotes the use of public health surveillance data to improve interventions for substance use and mental disorders,” said Treena Becker, the principal investigator and a researcher at the Center on Aging in UH Manoa’s Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, in a news release. “Also, this dashboard provides information to the healthcare community and non-profit groups that support those who experience and/or are in recovery from these conditions, along with their ‘ohana.”