According to new figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a whopping 107,543 people will die from drug overdoses in the United States in 2023.
Although this number is brutally high, it is actually a 3% decrease compared to the 111,029 deaths reported in 2022. The CDC’s data, compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics, is preliminary and final numbers are not expected to be released next year.
A slight downward trajectory may be a welcome sign for those who work with addicts and drug users, but experts say much more needs to be done to drastically reduce overdose deaths, which have increased more than five-fold over the past 25 years. CDC data.
Here are five takeaways from the CDC’s latest numbers.
Firefighters treat a woman who reportedly overdosed in Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Thousands of Americans Die from Fentanyl Overdoses; What is behind the rise?
1. Major drugs used in overdose deaths
Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, were the leading cause of overdose deaths in 2023, contributing to nearly seven in 10 deaths.
Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. First synthesized by Belgian chemist Paul Janssen in 1960 as a pain reliever, it has proven to be a useful drug in helping patients with traumatic injuries.
But it wasn’t until about the last decade that the drug entered the black market and really began to destroy lives and communities across America.
One of the main drivers of the recent fentanyl epidemic is cheap production methods. While other plant-derived drugs, such as heroin or cocaine, require cultivation and cultivation, synthetic drugs such as fentanyl are cheaper for both producers and consumers. Fentanyl is primarily produced in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then smuggled across the southern border.
According to data from the CDC, opioid-related overdose deaths actually decreased from an estimated 84,181 in 2022 to 81,083 last year.
2. Increase in cocaine and methamphetamine overdoses
Overdose deaths from dangerous synthetic opioids such as fentanyl decreased in 2023 compared to 2022, while psychostimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine increased.
Psychostimulants contributed to more than 36,000 deaths and cocaine contributed to nearly 30,000 deaths, according to CDC estimates.
Preliminary toxicology results for the deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans found dead in the snow two days after a game-day gathering found THC, cocaine and lethal levels of fentanyl in their systems, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Michigan police officer details terrifying moment he collapsed from fentanyl exposure
A man smokes a cigarette on the sidewalk in Portland, Oregon, January 10, 2024. (Hannah Rae Lambert/Fox News Digital)
3. States with the biggest spikes and declines in overdoses
Alaska, Washington, and Oregon saw notable increases of at least 27% compared to the same period in 2022.
Overdose deaths in the West may be linked to the widespread availability of fentanyl, according to a new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Law enforcement seized more than 115 million pills containing illegal fentanyl in 2023. This number is 2,300 times more than in 2017, when fewer than 50,000 pills were seized.
The NIH study notes that this region currently accounts for the majority of all fentanyl seizures and the total weight of fentanyl seized. Additionally, 77.8% of all fentanyl seizures in the West in 2023 were in pill form.
Last March, Oregon lawmakers voted to legalize certain drugs after a surge in overdose deaths. Michael Bock, a private security guard in Portland, previously told Fox News that the low price of fentanyl, at just 25 cents per pill, has had a devastating impact on his community.
Most fentanyl imported into the U.S. comes through the southern border, according to Dr. Marc Siegel, an internal medicine specialist and clinical professor at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York.
“The cartels are flooding us with this, which is why more than 70% of overdose deaths are fentanyl,” Siegel told Fox News Digital. “But the second problem is that fentanyl is also mixed with other drugs, such as methamphetamine and cocaine.”
Siegel said fentanyl depresses breathing and causes breathing to stop.
Several states across the U.S. have seen significant declines in overdose deaths.
For example, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, and Maine experienced declines of more than 15%.
Liberal Oregon passes drug recriminalization bill amid surge in overdose deaths
4. Long-distance drug overdose deaths are on the rise
The latest numbers may be good news in terms of the overall decline in overdoses last year, but trends over the past 25 years show a clear and frightening upward curve. In 1999, there were about 20,000 deaths, but in 2019, deaths jumped to more than 70,500 and peaked at 111,029 in 2023.
Since then, overdose deaths have reached an all-time high of 107,941 in 2022.
Drastically reducing the number of overdoses will take a new approach, says Joe Schrank, founder of Remedy Recovery, an organization that provides treatment for substance use disorders.
“All the numbers you’re seeing are people’s lives, those are the lives of individual families, individual individuals,” Schrank told Fox News Digital.
“If you want to solve the drug problem, you have to treat it as a public health problem, not a crime, and there are many countries that cannot turn their minds to this. I mean, France has overdoses; Portugal and Switzerland have them, which are very rare, but that’s because they treat drug abuse as a public health problem.” Because we treat it as a problem.”
A man uses a drug consumption booth at a safe injection site at OnPoint NYC on January 24, 2022 in New York City. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Schrank said those who treat this as a public health issue could provide safe injection sites like Vancouver, Canada, which could better inform users about how to take their drugs and provide them with ways to overcome their addiction.
“They’ve had two million shots supervised by Vancouver Public Health and there hasn’t been one overdose death. They’ve had a lot of overdoses. This is one way to solve this problem.”
“That’s strange too. People who drink alcohol have all those protections in place, they have safe consumption areas, they’re called hotel bars and lobbies. They have a safe supply chain, so if you buy a bottle of spirit, well, it’s not poison. “It’s not like that with other drugs.”
Schrank argues that Vancouver’s treatment approach shows that Oregon’s overdose surge is not directly attributable to decriminalization.
5. Drug users don’t know that fentanyl and drugs are mixed.
Although some people knowingly ingest fentanyl, many people are unaware that the potentially lethal drug they are about to use contains fentanyl, the NIH says. This is especially true for illegal counterfeit pills that are made to resemble prescription drugs such as oxycodone or benzodiazepines but actually contain fentanyl, the NIH study found.
The NIH said a study from 2010 to 2021 found that drug overdose deaths among teens increased dramatically and remained high through 2022. This increase in deaths is primarily due to the widespread availability of illicit fentanyl, the proliferation of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, and the ease of purchasing drugs through social media.
Schrank said it’s time for a national conversation about drug use and overdose, noting it affects many families across the United States. He even pointed out that Hunter Biden’s crack cocaine addiction, recently revealed in court, reached the White House.
“Every family has a Hunter. Every family has someone. Whether it’s a drunk uncle or an anxious nephew, we all have these issues, and it’s surprising that we don’t really talk about it much.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s office in Houston says it has seized more than 7 million doses of fentanyl in 2022. (US Department of State)
5. How drug users can lower their chances of overdosing
Illegal drugs like fentanyl and cocaine are illegal, but that doesn’t stop people from consuming them, so the CDC has several steps drug users can take to reduce their risk of overdose.
Fentanyl test strips, a somewhat new approach to drug overdose prevention, are recommended to be taken before ingestion by institutions. A small piece of paper can detect the presence of fentanyl in drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, as well as drug forms such as pills, powders, and injections.
The CDC also advises users to keep naloxone, a medication that quickly reverses opioid overdoses, on hand. The agency also recommends avoiding mixing medications and not using them alone if emergency services need to be called or someone needs to administer naloxone.
“The keyword here is ‘accidental’ overdose death,” Siegel says. “We’re not talking about people who commit suicide. In most cases, it’s people who accidentally overdose to get high without knowing how powerful the substance is.
“This is where education comes in. That’s where naloxone or Narcan comes in. Again, people need to know that one dose of Narcan may not be enough. Because the half-life of fentanyl is so long, they may need to take two or three doses. there is. “
Meanwhile, Schrank said one of the best ways to help people get off drugs is to provide them with a safe place instead of sentencing them to prison. He said users may ignore the help, but eventually change their minds.
“If you say that to someone 10 times, once, they might say, ‘I get it,’ but if you arrest them and jail them or give them a public defender, they’re not going to do that.”
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“It’s always done through human connection and non-judgment, and the truth of the matter is that people have the right to self-determination. So many families, communities, and cities in America cannot accept that this is the way it is. (Some people “He wants to spend his life.”
“But that’s their choice. They make that choice even when everyone around them doesn’t agree with their choice, and they don’t deserve to be dehumanized and marginalized by saying, ‘Oh, just overdose and die.'” We don’t deserve to be dehumanized and marginalized. “You can do much better than that.”
Information about addiction treatment can be found by visiting findtreatment.gov or by calling the National Helpline at 800-662-HELP (4357).
Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
