The La Plata Mountains, seen from San Juan County, are a small subrange of the San Juan Mountains in sw Colorado, and includes Hesperus Mountain at 13,332 feet.
Navajo Lake is a 3800 feet long and 400 feet deep reservoir located in northeastern San Juan County, created from a dam completed in 1962.
The eggs and hoodoos in the Bisti Wilderness were formed in sand and silt revealed 73 million years ago when the Western Interior Seaway receded.
Angel Peak Scenic Area is located 15 miles south of Bloomfield in San Juan County, with over 10,000 acres of rugged terrain, badlands and deep canyons.
The San Juan River is a 383 mile long major tributary of the Colorado River and a primary drainage for the Four Corners.
The Aztec Ruins National Monument, on 318 acres, consists of dwellings and sacred structures built by Ancient Pueblo Indians in the 12th and 13th Centuries.
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (Bisti Badlands) is a 45,000-acre wilderness area full of rock formations made of sandstone, shale, mudstone, and silt.
Shiprock (Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings") is a 27 million year old volcanic rock formation, designated as a National Natural Landmark, rising 1,583 feet above the desert.

Drug Overdose

Substance Use

In 2021 there were 39 deaths in San Juan County as a result of drug overdose, giving a rate of 35.4 per 100,000.

Rates for Subpopulations

  • By sex, the rate of drug overdose death is higher among males (with a rate of 59.1, 32 deaths) compared to females (12.0, 7 deaths).
  • By race/ethnicity, historically, the rate has been higher among White residents. But in 2021, the rate among Hispanic residents (50.5, 12 deaths) was higher than that for White (32.8, 13 deaths) and Native American (30.9, 14 deaths) residents.
  • By age group, drug overdose is highest among 35-44 year olds (70.3, 11 deaths) followed by other mid-adult age groups, 45-55 year olds and 25-34 year olds.


State & National Comparisons

San Juan County's rate is in between the state rate of 52.8 deaths per 100,000, and the national U.S. rate of 32.4.

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Drug Overdose Rate

Trends

As seen across the state and the U.S., San Juan County's overdose death rate has risen steadily in the past 20 years, and increased sharply since 2018.

INFOGRAPHIC

INFOGRAPHIC

Download an infographic about drug overdose and polysubstance use in San Juan County.

Related Indicators

It is estimated that 11,577 people in San Juan County are living with a Substance Use Disorder (NM SUD Treatment Gap Analysis, January 2020 NMDOH. Data for 2018.). This includes 1,828 with an opioid use disorder (OUD), 6,016 with an alcohol use disorder (AUD) and 1,285 with a psychostimulant use disorder (PUD). 

For the years 2014-2018, there were 382 emergency room visits for opioid overdose, giving an overall rate for San Juan County for these years of 57.9 per 100k, similar to New Mexico’s rate of 57.8. (Note that these ER numbers do not include Indian Health Services or Veteran’s Administration numbers, which in San Juan County means that data from Northern Navajo Medical Center (IHS), which primarily serves Shiprock and surrounding western parts of the county.)

Even with the unavailability of IHS and VA numbers, the number of opioid overdose ER visits in San Juan County represented 6.1% of the number of visits across New Mexico, and was the 10th worst county in the state (Substance Abuse Epi Profile, 2020). 

Data source for Overdose Deaths: New Mexico's Indicator-based Information System: https://ibis.health.state.nm.us/

Substance Use Disorder data: New Mexico Substance Use Disorder
Treatment Gap Analysis, January, 2020. https://www.nmhealth.org/publication/view/marketing/5596/

Comparisons for types of overdose deaths and ER visits: New Mexico Substance Use State Epidemiology Profile, January, 2020. https://www.nmhealth.org/data/view/substance/2351/
See also "Deaths of Despair" for comparisons of Drug Overdose.
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