Late last month, news outlets reported that drug overdose deaths across the country were "falling fast," in a “promising” trend that is “saving thousands of lives — But many people working on the ground in harm reduction spaces say the national trend does not align with what they are seeing as they continue to watch people who use drugs in their community die at alarming rates.
In Ashland County, Wisconsin, for example, there were more overdose fatalities in the first half of 2024 than there were in all of 2023, and the majority of people who died were American Indian Alaska Natives, said Philomena Kebec, economic development coordinator for the Bad River Tribe.
