Fewer people died in the United States last year from taking fentanyl and other opioids, leading to a decline in deaths for the first time in five years, according to newly released estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Federal officials said the numbers show the estimated number of overdose deaths fell by 3% between 2022 and 2023.
The new data is tentative and may still be updated. For a country wracked by the devastating toll of drug overdoses, even a slight decline could be a consolation: More than 40 percent of adults in one survey said they Know someone who has lost their life to a drug overdose.
Community groups and health officials grappling with the devastating toll of fentanyl have pushed to equip more people with naloxone, a drug that can stop opioid overdoses and is often sold under the nasal spray brand name “Narcan.” . For example, Los Angeles County officials announced last week that homeless drug overdose deaths had stopped surging, which they attributed to efforts to distribute narcotics on the streets.
But while U.S. deaths related to fentanyl and other opioids fell between 2022 and 2023, deaths related to stimulants like methamphetamine and cocaine increased, according to new estimates.
Fatal overdoses are not declining overall in all parts of the country. “On the East Coast and the Midwest, we’re seeing a decline, but on the West Coast, particularly in the upper Northwest, we’re still seeing an increase,” said Farida Ahmed, a health scientist at the National Center for Health Statistics.
In California, overdose deaths are expected to continue to rise in 2023 compared with 2022, with a 4.1% increase, federal data shows. In Oregon and Washington, the increases were significantly larger.
Drug use may vary by region, contributing to the overdoses and deaths that follow: Fentanyl first hit the eastern United States before spreading westward, while methamphetamine use is generally more common on the West Coast .
Federal estimates released Wednesday did not detail how many other drugs were involved in methamphetamine-related deaths, a phenomenon that has become a growing concern as Americans mix drugs, intentionally or unintentionally. In Los Angeles County, for example, a recent report showed that by 2022, nearly half of drug overdose deaths among homeless people would involve methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any drugs to treat meth addiction, although some existing drugs have shown promising results and are offering incentives such as gift cards to help people stay off the high.
Americans have been eager for any signs of hope in the overdose crisis, but experts are warning against premature declarations of victory amid year-to-year changes in overdose deaths.
For example, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that the last time fatal drug overdoses dropped nationwide was in 2018, when China implemented stricter regulations on carfentanil, a powerful synthetic opioid. The following year, drug overdose deaths rose again.
