Rep. Deb Manjarrez: Is Washington serious about solutions to the drug crisis?
Washington state continues to face a devastating overdose crisis. While opioid overdose deaths have dropped by nearly half nationwide since June 2023, Washington has seen only a 3% decline, the fifth smallest in the country. Through October 2025, our state had the second-highest opioid overdose death rate.
At some point, we have to ask a hard question: Is Washington serious about addressing this crisis?
Families in communities across our state, whether urban, suburban, or rural, are losing loved ones at an alarming rate. This is not an abstract policy issue. It is personal, it is urgent, and it demands real action.
Many changes to our substance use disorder and recovery response must be made. Each day that passes is another day we risk losing more lives. A good first step is something straightforward and achievable: Statewide coordination of real-time overdose reporting and response.
That is what House Bill 2168 was designed to do.
Today, many individual cities and counties are already paying for and using the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program. However, there is no statewide coordination, no consistent reporting, and no unified strategy to respond to overdose spikes. We are operating in silos while lives are being lost.
House Bill 2168 would change that.
The legislation directs the Department of Health to share emergency medical services patient encounter data related to opioid overdoses with the ODMAP within 24 hours of submission into the Washington EMS Information System.
With real-time data, first responders and public health professionals can act quickly, deploy resources where they are needed most, and connect people to treatment and recovery services. This is a proven, data-driven approach already working across the country and in parts of Washington, including the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, the City of Seattle, and agencies in Snohomish and Yakima counties.
This bill would bring those efforts together and create a coordinated statewide response.
The proposal earned strong bipartisan support, passing the House 81 to 16 and the Senate 42 to 6. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognized the value of faster, more effective intervention.
And yet, despite that overwhelming support, the Legislature failed to finish the job.
Concerns raised late in the session about how the data might be used prevented the bill from reaching the governor’s desk. Those concerns should be taken seriously, but they should not be used as an excuse for inaction.
The bill included clear and strict guardrails. The data would be limited, anonymized, and tightly controlled. It would include only basic information such as time, general location, and whether an overdose was fatal. It would not identify individuals.
It also explicitly prohibited the use of this information for law enforcement purposes. It could not be used for warrants, criminal investigations, welfare checks, or the prosecution of individuals treated for overdoses. This is a public health tool, focused on saving lives.
The reality is this: While other states are moving forward with coordinated, data-driven responses, Washington is falling behind.
My work on this issue does not stop here. The strong bipartisan support for this bill shows there is a path forward if there is the will to act. I will continue working with stakeholders to address concerns and bring this solution back.
But we cannot keep delaying meaningful action.
The drug crisis does not discriminate. It affects every community and every income level. It has likely touched someone in your family or someone you know.
We owe it to the people of Washington to move beyond conversations and take real, measurable steps to save lives.
House Bill 2168 is one of those steps. It is time we act like it.
