Phoenix opioid overdose data shows improvement in 2024 but a negative turn in 2025

By Mark Carlisle
Mail | X: @mwcarlisle

The number of fatal opioid overdoses in Phoenix declined during 2024 as more overdose patients had the overdose-reversing drug naloxone administered to the before emergency services arrived.

However, early data from 2025 shows a large increase in total overdoses in the city.

Staff from the Phoenix Office of Public Health attributes the improved rate of stopping fatal overdoses in part to the city’s program to distribute naloxone for free. The program, launched in August 2023, has distributed nearly 30,000 naloxone kits from libraries and other sites across the city. Each kit includes two naloxone nasal sprays and education materials.

The rate of naloxone distribution to patients with a suspected opioid overdose before Phoenix Fire EMS arrived was 7% in the year prior to the city launching the naloxone program, 9% in the program’s first year and 13% in the second year.

“This is a very promising trend,” Public Health Special Projects Administrator Kelli Kostizak told the Community Services and Education Subcommittee on Wednesday.

It’s not possible to know whether the naloxone used was distributed by the city, but research shows making naloxone more widely available reduces fatalities, Kostizak said.

This graphic shows the annual opioid-related fatalities in the city of Phoenix from 2021-2024, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

(Courtesy city of Phoenix)

The improved rate of naloxone distribution lines up with an improved rate of fatal overdoses in the city. After a spike of 868 opioid-related fatalities in Phoenix during 2023, fatalities reduced to 711 in 2024, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, which was lower than any of the prior three years.

Phoenix sees a disproportionate number of fatal opioid overdoses in Maricopa County accounting for 57% of the county's fatal overdoses last year despite representing just 36% of the population.

While 2024’s fatality numbers were an improvement for Phoenix, 2025 data is not yet available from the county, and Phoenix Fire’s data shows a turn for the worse in overdose data this year.

The fire department’s number of calls related to suspected, non-fatal opioid overdoses has surpassed the prior three years in just the first nine months of 2025. There have been 4,858 such calls through September in 2025, which is on pace to be a 51% increase from the average of the prior three years.

This graphic shows the Phoenix Fire Department’s number of calls related to suspected, non-fatal opioid overdoses annually from 2022-2024 and the year-to-date numbers through September for 2024.

(Courtesy city of Phoenix)

Combining Phoenix Fire’s data on suspected, non-fatal overdose calls from 2022 to 2024 with the county’s data on fatal overdoses from the same year show that 2024 saw a slight improvement in the rate of fatal overdoses as well – 14.3% of opioid overdoses resulted in fatalities in 2024, compared with 16% in 2023 and 15.5% in 2022.

Councilmember Anna Hernadez said she appreciated city staff’s approach to treat substance abuse as a mental health issue, which she said are best addressed with strategies around harm reduction and education on safe use.

“The answer to a public health crisis like this should never be criminalization or policing. So I’m really encouraged that you have the vision to really tackle this from that approach,” Hernandez said.

Each city of Phoenix naloxone kit contains two Narcan (the brand name for naloxone) nasal sprays, a pair of rubber gloves, information on how to administer naloxone and information about substance use and resources.

(Courtesy city of Phoenix)

Cost offsets

Phoenix’s naloxone program cost about $706,000 in its second year. However, about $660,000 of that cost was offset by in-kind contributions, said Interim Public Health Advisor Yanitza Soto. The most notable contributions, Soto said, is that the naloxone is provided by the Arizona Department of Health Services and volunteer labor to help pack naloxone kits.

Factoring in those savings, the city’s expenditures for the program last year were under $47,000. This means the city paid less than $3 to make and distribute each naloxone kit, containing two nasal sprays apiece. Including the in-kind contributions, the kits cost just over $40 each. Soto noted the average national cost to purchase two naloxone nasal sprays over the counter is about $62.

Phoenix’s costs for the program are paid from the city’s share of One Arizona Distribution of Opioid Settlement Funds.

Plans for this year

Entering the third year of the naloxone distribution program, the city wants to add to its 50 distribution sites, including exploring providing naloxone to distribute at non-city facilities to increase accessibility, Soto said.

In the coming year, the Office of Public Health will focus on volunteer recruitment and retention to help pack naloxone kits – there was already an increase of 107 volunteers in the first year of the program to 177 last year – and run a public awareness campaign so the public knows where to get naloxone, how to use it and “why it is such an important life-saving tool,” Soto said.

Other substance use initiatives the Office of Public Health is focusing on are peer navigation programs that reach out to people using substances to try to interrupt the cycle of addiction, provider education efforts to increase access to recovery resources and allowing local nonprofits to apply for funding from Phoenix’s share of the One Arizona Opioid settlement.

“Naloxone saves lives, but it is just one piece of the puzzle,” Soto said.

Hernandez also encouraged staff to explore distribution of fentanyl testing strips. Some illegal drug manufacturers will lace other drugs with fentanyl because it is cheap and adds potency. However, this can cause some drug users to underestimate the potency of a drug because they did not know it contained fentanyl, and overdose.

“I think that would go a long way,” Hernandez said about the test strips.

Naloxone kits can be picked up for free with no questions asked at any of the city’s 17 library locations or the library’s Bookmobile as well as some other city facilities including many senior centers and family services centers.

For a full list of available locations or to learn more about the program, including an instructional video on how to administer the nasal spray, visit shorturl.at/5KuKt.

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Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Phoenix

mcarlisle@iniusa.org

Meet Mark

Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.

Community: Mark enjoys taking his two young sons to parks, the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Public Library  and other fun events around the Valley. He also participates in a local book club.

Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.

Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.

 Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, sons and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.