It's a promising sign for the ongoing fentanyl crisis in San Francisco, as for the second month in a row the city counted a decreasing number of unintentional drug overdose deaths.

The tallying of drug-overdose deaths has been a grim practice in SF for the last four years, and the city even has a drug-overdose dashboard that keeps the running count. But June and July have seen these unintentional deaths trending downward, which is a good sign, though we are still nowhere near zero.

There were 39 drug-overdose deaths in the city in July, down from 48 in June. These are starkly different numbers from the 79 and 88 deaths counted in the city last July and August. And 2023 marked the highest number of drug-overdose deaths overall in SF since the fentanyl crisis took hold, with 806 drug-related fatalities.

The last time the city counted 39 overdose deaths was in January 2020, which is the first month the tracking of these deaths began. The monthly numbers rose quickly from there, and have stayed above the 50 mark in many months.

As the Chronicle reports today, city officials are starting to feel hopeful that the city's multi-pronged approach, which includes adding treatment beds, conducting street-level interventions, and increasing law-enforcement for open drug use, may be helping to stem the crisis.

"We’re cautiously optimistic," said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax during a news conference, per the Chronicle. "As a whole we’re seeing positive trends in the right direction."

The city saw an average of 57 unintentional overdose deaths each month between January 2022 and May 2024, and last month's total marks a 32% drop below that average. So far this year, 413 people have died of drug overdoses in SF.

As the city's medical examiner explains, "Most cases involve poisoning from cocaine, methamphetamines, or opioids, but some involve poisoning by other drugs or alcohol."

Among the 806 deaths that occurred in 2023, four out of five involved fentanyl, sometimes in combination with other drugs.

Some also involved new additives or varieties of fentanyl, like “tranq” (xylazine) and fluorofentanyl.

Nationally, deaths involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids went slightly down in 2023, to 74,702, according to the CDC. That's in comparison to 2022's total, which was 76,226.

Previously: Final Grim Tally Arrives: SF Had Highest-Ever 806 Fatal Drug Overdoses in 2023