Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. rose slightly in 2022
FILE - Forensic assistant Laurentiu Bigu, left, and investigator Ryan Parraz from the Los Angeles County coroner's office cover the body of a homeless man found dead on a sidewalk in Los Angeles on April 18, 2022. The 60-year-old man died from the effects of methamphetamine, according to his autopsy report. Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. went up slightly in 2022 after two big leaps during the pandemic. NEW ORLEANS — — Drug overdose deaths in the U.S.
An estimated 109,680 overdose deaths occurred last year, according to numbers posted Wednesday by the CDC. That’s about 2% more than the 107,622 U.S. overdose deaths in 2021, but nothing like the 30% increase seen in 2020, and 15% increase in 2021. Some of these states had some of the highest overdose death rates during the epidemic, which Keyes said might be a sign that years of concentrated work to address the problem is paying off. State officials cited various factors for the decline, like social media and health education campaigns to warn the public about the dangers of drug use; expanded addiction treatment — including telehealth — and wider distribution of the overdose-reversing medication naloxone.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, abuse of prescription opioid painkillers was to blame for deaths before a gradual turn to heroin, which in 2015 caused more deaths than prescription painkillers or other drugs. A year later, the more lethal fentanyl and its close cousins became the biggest drug killer. Research from Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, a drug policy expert at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests “there appears to be some substitution going on,” with a number of people who use illicit drugs turning to methamphetamines or other options to try to stay away from fentanyl and fentanyl-tainted drugs.
But overdose deaths then rose to a record 71,000 in 2019, then soared during the COVID-19 pandemic to 92,000 in 2020 and 107,000 in 2021.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Drug Overdose Deaths Topped 100,000 Again in 2022Breaking: Overdose deaths in the U.S edged higher in 2022, marking only the second time drugs killed more than 100,000 people in a year
Read more »
CDC Reports Two Cases of Drug-Resistant RingwormIn both cases, skin culture isolates first identified Trichophyton mentagrophytes, but further analysis at the New York State Department of Health's lab identified the isolates as T indotineae.
Read more »
Nick Jonas celebrates 'incredible' Priyanka Chopra with Mother’s Day post and new pic of baby MaltiNick Jonas showered his wife Priyanka Chopra Jonas with love on her second Mother’s Day celebration and praised her for being an 'incredible' mom to their 1-year-old daughter, Malti.
Read more »
The Official 2022 List Of Top Baby Names Just DroppedAnd a popular TV show is making baby name waves.
Read more »
How Colton Underwood paid tribute to queer history at his wedding to Jordan C. BrownThe former 'Bachelor' announced his engagement to boyfriend Jordan C. Brown in February 2022.
Read more »
Family First! J. Lo and Ben Affleck Watched ‘The Mother’ With Their MomsExclusive: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck included their moms in the actress’ latest movie success for TheMother.
Read more »