US Overdose Deaths are Trending Downward

While drug overdoses continue to claim nearly 100,000 U.S. lives annually, experts are finding hope in the fact that overdose deaths are now trending downward.

Data recently released by the Centers for Disease Control shows that an estimated 97,000 people died of drug overdoses in the 12 months leading up to June 30, 2024 – 14.5% less than the roughly 113,000 deaths a year prior. In 2023, overdose deaths, which had spiked dramatically during the pandemic, dropped for the first time since 2018, CDC data shows.

“This is a pretty stunning and rapid reversal of drug-overdose mortality numbers,” Brandon Marshall, a researcher at Brown University who studies overdose trends, told The Associated Press. States that saw the most dramatic decreases in the recent data include North Carolina (30%), Ohio (24.5) and Virginia (23%).

Contamination of street drugs can also contribute to overdose deaths.

Experts remain uncertain what has precipitated the decline in deaths resulting from illicit drug use – including opioids, such as heroin and fentanyl, and stimulants, such as cocaine and methamphetamine. They do, however, have some educated guesses.

First, restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic have relaxed, reducing isolation and improving access to care. Meanwhile, efforts to make naxolone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses and buprenorphine, an addiction treatment, more widely available have seen some success. In North Carolina, for example, the increased availability of over-the-counter naxolone at pharmacies may have had an effect. Meanwhile, successful litigation against multiple opioid producers may have dampened the abuse of prescription painkillers.

Other states saw significant increases in overdose deaths, including Alaska (39%) and Nevada (26%).

“While these data are cause for optimism, we must not lose sight of the fact that nearly 100,000 people are still estimated to be dying annually from drug overdose in the U.S.,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in a statement to CBS News.

Still, experts remain optimistic over what they see as a consistent downward trend. “This seems to be substantial and sustained,” Marshall told the Associated Press. “I think there’s a real reason for hope here.”