Linea de Acceso para Servicos y Crisis, Gratuito y Disponible las 24 Horas del Dia (888) 868-1649. Para emergencias medicas, llame al 911.
Linea de Acceso para Servicos y Crisis, Gratuito y Disponible las 24 Horas del Dia (888) 868-1649. Para emergencias medicas, llame al 911.
The Santa Barbara County Opioid Safety Coalition is committed to tracking the following indicators of opioid use, treatment and prevention initiatives, and the impact of opioid use on our community. We will be updating these indicators as well as adding new data elements as they become available. Please continue to check this page, or sign up for updates from the coalition.
Additional historical data on the opioid crisis in Santa Barbara County can be found in the following report: The Changing Overdose Crisis in Santa Barbara County: A Community Needs Assessment. The report was authored by Kendall Cortelyou, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Central Florida Director Data, Analytics, and Strategy, Project Opioid with assistance from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Robert Minter. Download the full report here.
In 2025 there was a continued decline in overdose deaths, with 166 overdose deaths from alcohol and other drugs, and 67 opioid-related overdose deaths. Deaths due to opioids represented 40% of all alcohol and drug-related overdose deaths during this time period. Most (73%) of opioid related deaths in 2025 were due to Fentanyl.
Source: Santa Barbara County Coroner
Local trends are similar to nationwide declines in overdose deaths. An estimated 80,391 people died of a drug overdose in the U.S. in 2024, marking the lowest total since 2019. The sum represents a roughly 27% decrease from 2023, according to the CDC. Almost all of the drop came via a reduction in deaths driven by fentanyl.
Experts have floated a number of theories, none proven, for the improving mortality rate, which include a shift in the drug supply, efforts to improve access to addiction medications and naloxone, and the grim reality that hundreds of thousands of U.S. drug users have already died.
There are often multiple drugs involved in an overdose death. In 2025, 40% of all alcohol and drug-related overdose deaths involved opioids and 30% involved fentanyl. Stimulants were co-involved with opioids in 24% of overdose deaths. Stimulants are increasingly being adulterated with fentanyl, often without the user’s knowledge.
The number of deaths involving fentanyl increased from 12 in 2017 to 112 in 2023. In 2024, there was a 47% decline in fentanyl overdose deaths, as compared to 2023. The number of deaths involving stimulants in combination with opioids increased from 13 in 2017 to 68 in 2022, declining slightly to 51 in 2023 and 47 in 2024. This declining trend appears to be continuing in 2025.
Source: Santa Barbara County Coroner
The number of overdose deaths involving opioids or stimulants are highest among residents of South Santa Barbara County. In 2025, the percentage of total countywide overdose deaths from these substances among South County residents was 44%, while the percentage of total deaths among North County residents was 36%. The percentage of total deaths among Mid County residents (a smaller, more rural population) was 20%.
Also of note is that 48% of overdose deaths involving methamphetamine, alone or in combination with opioids, were among North County residents.
Source: Santa Barbara County Coroner
Opioid and stimulant overdose deaths in Santa Barbara County in 2025 were lower than in 2024, with the exception of the 20 – 24 age group (5 deaths), the 35-39 age group (15 deaths), and the 55 – 59 age group (17 deaths).
The tragedy of overdose deaths from opioids or stimulants is that it often strikes early in life. In 2025 there were no deaths among 15-19 year olds, as compared to 4 deaths in this age group in 2024.
Source: Santa Barbara County Coroner
Overdose deaths from opioids and stimulants in Santa Barbara County have historically been three to four times higher among men than among women.
Overdose victims in 2024 and 2025 were over-represented by males at 78% of the overdose victims, but only 50% of the population of Santa Barbara County.
Source: Santa Barbara County Coroner
In 2024, 47% of the drug-related overdose deaths in Santa Barbara County were in the Hispanic population, as compared to 34% in 2023. 52% of drug-related overdose deaths in 2024 were in the White population, as compared to 62% in 2023. Because Whites represent 43.8% of the County’s population and Hispanics represent 46%, there is an over-representation of White victims.
Source: Santa Barbara Sheriff Dept. Coroner’s Data
American Medical Response (AMR), the contracted emergency responders for Santa Barbara County, responded to 858 opioid-related overdoses from January to December 2025.
The highest number of incidents were among the 20 – 29 and 30 – 39 age groups; there were also 65 overdose reversals for individuals 19 and younger.
Men accounted for 54% of the incidents and women accounted for 31% (a higher percentage than for overdose fatalities); 15% were of unknown gender.
Thirty-three percent of the incidents were in Santa Barbara, 31% in Santa Maria, and 12% in Lompoc.
The highest percentage of incidents (44%) occurred in private residences.
Source: AMR; data pulled from First Watch (does not include County Fire Dept., UCSB, New Cuyama or Vandenberg)
In the first six months of 2026, American Medical Response (AMR), the contracted emergency responders for Santa Barbara County responded to 402 opioid-related overdoses.
The highest number of incidents were among the 20 – 29 and 30 – 39 age groups; there were also 29 overdose reversals for individuals aged 19 and younger. Incidents appear to be increasing among seniors aged 70 and older.
Men accounted for 57% of the incidents and women accounted for 30% (a higher percentage than for overdose fatalities); 13% were of unknown gender.
Thirty-three percent of the incidents were in Santa Barbara, 30% in Santa Maria, and 11% in Lompoc.
The highest percentage of incidents (48%) occurred in private residences.
Source: AMR; data pulled from First Watch (does not include County Fire Dept., UCSB, New Cuyama or Vandenberg)
Santa Barbara County is hardly immune to how the opioid epidemic impacts the health care system, with rates of ED visits for opioid overdoses that are higher than statewide rates, and rates for hospitalizations for opioid overdoses that are similar to those statewide.
Rates for ED visits and hospitalizations cited here are a 12-month rolling average ending in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Of the 3,236 youth and adults admitted to County-funded treatment programs from July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025, 36% reported that opioids were their primary drug of choice. Stimulant use (methamphetamines and cocaine) was cited by 25% of treatment clients as the primary drugs used.
Note: An additional 1,654 individuals were in treatment in FY 2024-2025 for whom no information on drug of choice was available.
Source: Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness Alcohol and Drug Programs
Buprenorphine is a medication for opioid use disorder, and helps prevent opioid deaths and increase retention in treatment programs. Following a decline in 2019 – 2020, local use of buprenorphine is once again on the rise. An increase in the rate of prescriptions for buprenorphine is a sign of increasing access to opioid addiction treatment, and in Santa Barbara County, the rate has remained somewhat higher than the state’s rate.
The rate of opioid prescriptions began a notable decline in Santa Barbara County in 2016 and declined by 48% from 2016 to 2022. The rate has remained slightly but consistently higher than the state average. The opioid prescription rate rose slightly from 2022 to 2023.
Opioid prescription rates in the City of Santa Maria were almost twice as high as rates in Goleta in 2023. Overall, rates in Santa Maria and Lompoc are higher than the county, state and the City of Santa Barbara.
Two percent of students at public high schools and five percent of students at non-traditional schools reported having taken prescription pain medications (opioids) for non-medical reasons in 2024-2025. Students in non-traditional schools are more likely to have misused pain medications. Although the percentage of students who have reported using opioids may seem low, 2% of a sample size of 2,087 students equates to 42 students who are at risk for opioid addiction in a single grade.
Source: California Healthy Kids Survey 2024-2025
