DIZZYLAND –
April 26, 2026 – Visitors to a 10-city region in Orange County, California, with a large concentration of substance use disorder treatment centers experience disproportionately high levels of overdose. They were 159% more likely to experience an overdose when visiting this region compared to other parts of the state. “You’d expect that in a place where there’s a lot of treatment centers, there would be a buffer against relapses and overdoses. But our study shows that this area of Orange County, where there is an abundance of treatment centers, is a hotspot for overdoses, especially for out-of-state visitors,” said Ilan Shrira, lead author of the study and a social psychologist at Penn State. “One possible explanation may be the lack of oversight in the industry, allowing for fraudulent and predatory practices by some bad actors that can harm those seeking treatment and contribute to overdose risk.”
Substance use disorder treatment programs are an effective means to reduce the risk of continued drug use and of overdose, the researchers explained. Previous studies in the field have shown that the presence of treatment centers in a community predicted lower rates of overdose and death in the surrounding area.
