Drug Overdose Deaths Drop Sharply in Santa Barbara County

Drug overdose deaths dropped sharply from their countywide peak of 158 in 2023 down to 93 in 2025. Fentanyl still leads the way with methamphetamine trailing behind. As Sheriff Bill Brown told the board of supervisors this Tuesday, that’s a 41 percent decline — significantly greater than that of the nation as a whole — and 65 fewer lives lost.  

Fentanyl, he reported, dropped from 111 deaths in 2023 to 46 in 2025; methamphetamine deaths declined from 95 to 52. Homeless overdose deaths, the sheriff noted, dropped from 51 in 2023 to 20 in 2025.

Looking at the drug deaths by race, Brown reported that overdose deaths among white users had declined by 50 percent, while among Latino users, the drop was less significant. The highest number of deaths occurred with older — 35-to-55-year-olds — who had a history of chronic addiction. 

He noted that 67 percent of all overdose victims had spent time in county jail, with 62 percent having overdosed more than a year after their release. Two percent, he noted with some exasperation, died while in custody at county jail despite the many precautions taken to keep drugs out of the jail, he said.

In 2023, there were more overdose deaths among South County drug users; as of 2025, the North County had claimed that dubious distinction. 

Brown credited the drop to a plethora of efforts and strategies. In the past couple of years, word of fentanyl’s quick-and-easy lethality pierced the veil of public oblivion. At the same time, Narcan — a drug that saves people who otherwise would have died of an overdose — achieved widespread availability. All first responders carry it; it’s available to members of the public free of charge. In Isla Vista, activists working in conjunction with Supervisor Laura Capps knock on doors, dropping off Narcan samples at every household. Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said he regularly keeps one in his desk. Pacific Pride, working in conjunction with the sheriff, has led the charge in terms of Narcan distribution.

While Brown took pains to laud the role of education and harm reduction, he also stressed the importance of law enforcement. Since he all but doubled the number of narcotics enforcement officers in June 2024, Brown said, they seized no less that 7.39 million doses of meth, 1.3 million doses of cocaine, 50,086 doses of heroin, and 635,000 doses of fentanyl. 

Brown noted that in the 1990s, there were 27 law enforcement officers — in all law enforcement agencies combined — regularly assigned to narcotics enforcement. In 2024, he noted, there were only five, and all in his department. In June 2024, he said, he increased that number to eight. 

Responding to the blizzard of statistics unleashed by Brown, Supervisor Bob Nelson commented, “When I saw those numbers, I didn’t know whether to be scared or proud. I think both.” 

Although relations between Brown and the supervisors have grown fraught, they made a point to express appreciation for his passion and for the numbers and asked him to comment on addiction programs in the county jail. 

“Jail gets a bad rap,” Brown said, noting that for many struggling with the “terrible, terrible, terrible” toll addiction takes, jail offers a good opportunity for those going through withdrawal. And for the first time ever, the jail now no longer has a waiting list for those seeking what’s known as medically assisted treatment (MAT). Of the 757 inmates now in county jail, Brown stated, 265 were enrolled in the MAT program.