The number of unintentional overdose deaths in San Diego County fell for a fourth straight year in 2025, according to statistics released by the county Monday to coincide with International Overdose Awareness Day. County officials called the trend encouraging while acknowledging that the overdose death toll is still far too high.
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Officials said Monday that 840 people died last year from unintentional overdoses, an 11% decline from 945 such deaths the year prior and a 36% decline from 2021, when overdose deaths peaked at 1,309.
“There is progress, but progress is not victory — victory is if we can make sure that no life is lost to an overdose,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said at a Monday morning news conference outside the County Administration Building, near a lawn lined with purple flags representing all 840 individuals who died last year.
County officials also said that for the second year in a row, methamphetamine was involved in a larger share of overdose deaths than fentanyl. “It’s important our community is reminded that methamphetamine is a powerful and toxic drug,” Stephan said in a statement.
County Public Health Officer Dr. Sayone Thihalolipavan said that overdose deaths are a public health crisis that affects both rural and urban communities, but that deaths are “not shared equally” among the region’s racial groups. He said that while overdose death rates have fallen sharply for Black residents in recent years, it remains nearly double that of White residents in the county.
“That gap has to close,” Thihalolipavan said.
As part of Monday’s events surrounding International Overdose Awareness Day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and San Diego City Attorney’s Office announced that for the fourth time, they teamed up with local college athletes to launch an anti-fentanyl social media campaign. The first had involved the San Diego State University men’s basketball team shortly after their 2023 run to the Final Four and National Championship game.
The newest public service announcement, “Be on the Safe Side,” involved SDSU football players.
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“Be on the safe side. Know the risks. Use Narcan,” the players said at the end of the video. “Call for help. Aztecs protect Aztecs.”
City Attorney Heather Ferbert told the Union-Tribune that for the first time this year, the student-athletes were paid for their participation through Aztec Link, the SDSU football team’s name, image and likeness collective.
“Not only are they doing a good thing by helping educate their community … it’s really exciting that they’re actually being compensated for their time and image, and they will be cross-posting on their own social media platforms,” Ferbert said.
She said the money came from her office’s relatively new Fentanyl and Opioid Community Understanding and Safety Program, known as FOCUS, which is funded through proceeds from the city’s $30 million settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family over their role in the opioid crisis.
Ferbert, whose office prosecutes misdemeanor crimes in the city of San Diego, said FOCUS is made up of deputy city attorneys from her office’s criminal division. In addition to prosecuting opioid-related misdemeanor crimes, such as certain charges of driving under the influence of opioids, FOCUS has a strong educational component.
“Within the last year we started really looking at utilizing the opioid settlement funds in a more robust way for the work that they’re doing and really seeing how can we maximize their reach,” Ferbert said. “They are going out to educate high school and college students, Greek life, athletes, to help them be aware of the risks of fentanyl — using Narcan, calling 911, good Samaritan laws and all of that — so that people are aware of what’s going on and know what they can do to help each other.”
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U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said the purpose of the campaign is not fear.
“We don’t want students scared,” he said. “We want them empowered.”
