Vista Addiction Treatment Centers

The opioid abuse and overdose epidemic is ravaging the United States—on average, 115 people die every day due to an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).¹

Although California has not been hit as hard by opioid addiction as some states like Ohio and West Virginia, areas of the state have been deeply affected by it nonetheless. Vista, California, located in northern San Diego County has seen an uptick in opioid abuse, along with the rest of the county and the region.²

One report on San Diego County found that, like other places in the U.S., an influx of illicit fentanyl and carfentanil has led to a spike in narcotics-related deaths. Fentanyl is between 50 and 100 times more powerful than morphine, while carfentanil is a synthetic opiate so potent it is only used legally to tranquilize large animals for veterinary medicine.³ Just a few grains of carfentanil can lead to a rapid overdose in a human.

Because of this spike in deaths in Vista and surrounding cities, some programs are pushing to make a drug that halts an opioid overdose, naloxone, more available. One new program dispenses naloxone near clean needle exchanges and seeks to expand into Vista in the coming years.

After an overdose has been prevented or—ideally—before one happens, attending detox and an inpatient or outpatient program can help to prevent physical and psychological harm from long-term substance abuse.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2017). Understanding the Epidemic.
2. ABC 10 News. (2018). San Diego County Leaders Unveil Plan to Battle Drug Addiction.
3. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). (n.d.). Fentanyl FAQs.