For the first time, the CDC is reporting that deaths by drug overdose have topped 100,000 annually, making America’s drug epidemic the deadliest it’s ever been.
According to provisional data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States during the 12 months ending April 2021, jumping 28.5% from the same period a year earlier.
The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found that opioids continue to be the driving cause of drug overdose deaths. Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, are blamed for nearly two-thirds (64%) of all drug overdose deaths in the 12 months ending April 2021, up 49% from the year before.
Experts claim the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise in use of fentanyl have both been critical contributors to the rising rates of overdose death.
The federal data also showed that overdose deaths from methamphetamine and other psychostimulants also jumped significantly, up 48% in the year ending April 2021 compared to the year before.
