Annual deaths from drug overdoses in the U.S. topped 100,000 for the first time, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, a harrowing statistic as the nation continues to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data published Wednesday suggest that a projected 100,306 individuals died from drug overdoses over the 12-month period ending in April, a 28.5% increase over the previous 12-month period.
Drug overdose death data lag information for other causes of death, but CDC data already show that at least 97,990 people are confirmed to have died from drugs during this time period.
By comparison, about 38,680 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2020.
The data estimate that overdose deaths specifically from opioids grew to 75,673 from 56,064 in the previous year.
“This is unacceptable and requires an unprecedented response,” said Office for National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta during a call with reporters Wednesday, noting that an American dies of an overdose about every five minutes.
Only four states —Delaware, New Jersey, New Hampshire and South Dakota — saw decreases in the number of drug overdose deaths.
“Synthetic fentanyl and methamphetamines are driving the overdose crisis in America,” said Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Fentanyl is being mixed with other drugs like cocaine, heroin, marijuana and meth, and drug traffickers and networks are flooding our communities with fentanyl and methamphetamine in the form of fake counterfeit prescription pills.”
Milgram said fentanyl seizures by the agency have hit record highs with 12,000 pounds of the highly potent drug seized this year — enough to provide every U.S. resident with a lethal dose.
The United States has seen an upward trend of drug overdose deaths during the pandemic. In 2019, CDC had reported a slight decrease in drug-related deaths, after a previous high of 72,000 in 2017.
But a sharp turnaround occurred during the pandemic.
In 2019, the National Institutes of Health announced a study seeking to cut opioid deaths by 40 percent in four states within three years. Currently, all of the four states — Kentucky, Ohio, New York and Massachusetts — are seeing increases in deaths.
“Unfortunately, when we were planning these studies, we were completely unaware, we couldn’t have predicted that there would be the COVID pandemic basically taking over,” said National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow on the call. “What we have seen is that the stressors from the COVID pandemic have led to more drug abuse, to difficulty in accessing treatments, and to the erosion of the community support systems that actually prevent people that are taking drugs from escalating and that sustain their recovery.”
The administration announced it would take additional steps to reduce drug overdoses.
ONDCP on Wednesday released a model law for states to expand the use of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone. The model law serves as a framework for states to enact various policies to expand access to the drug.
