In Arizona and Yavapai County, opioid abuse is not over exaggerated – six people a day die of an opioid overdose.
In 2019, the MATForce-founded Yavapai County Fatality Review Board logged the first opioid death of someone under the age of 17; the statistics show there were 68 overdose deaths, the majority are a combination of opioids and other drugs. The report showed that for the first time since the review board was created in 2016 they registered their first overdose death of someone under the age of 18.
These are not just numbers – they are people – young men and women, older men and women from all walks of life with dreams, ambitions, families and friends ripped apart by addiction to opioids and other drugs purchased both legally and illegally. For some, the lure of addictive substances started when they were seemingly invincible teenagers.