Last year was Alaska’s deadliest on record for opioid overdoses

Crosses represent opioid overdose deaths in Alaska at a 2023 event in Anchorage organized by the David Dylan Foundation. (Rachel Cassandra/AKPM)
More Alaskans died from an opioid overdose last year than ever before, according to preliminary data, and the state reported the nation’s highest per capita increase in opioid overdose deaths.
The numbers are heartbreaking, said Lindsey Kato, the director of Alaska’s Division of Public Health. She said overdose deaths can have a ripple effec