Topline
Deaths from overdoses soared in 2021, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continuing a years-long incline that has propelled drug deaths to record levels—though particularly alarming is the surge in deaths from the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which has become the dominant drug threat. .
Fentanyl deaths soared in 2021, according to CDC research.
Key Facts
The rate of deaths from fentanyl drug overdoses increased by nearly a quarter (24%) in 2021 compared to the year before, according to data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, compounding a sharp 55% increase from 2019.
The figure, representing 21.6 deaths from fentanyl overdoses per 100,000 people, continues a broad upwards incline that has seen the rate of fentanyl deaths nearly quadruple in the span of five years, the researchers said.
Overdose data, gathered from an analysis of nationally recorded death certificates, also revealed a sharp uptick in death rates for overdoses from cocaine and methamphetamine from 2016 to 2021, which more than doubled and more than quadrupled from 2016 to 2021, respectively.
Fentanyl death rates, which sat at 5.7 per 100,000 people in 2016, still dwarfed deaths from cocaine and methamphetamine, which respectively rose from 3.5 and 2.1 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 7.9and 9.6 in 2021.
Over the same time span, overdose death rates from heroin and oxycodone—a prescription opioid painkiller—decreased by 40.8% and 21%, respectively, the researchers found, though they noted the data for heroin was not statistically strong enough to draw a firm conclusion.
Deaths from heroin dropped from 4.9 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 2.9 in 2021 and deaths from oxycodone dropped from 1.9 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 1.5 in 2021.
Key Background
Drug overdose deaths have spiked to record highs in recent years, primarily due to the spread of opioids, a class of drug found in or derived from chemicals found in the opium poppy plant. Opioids, which are also known as narcotics, are invaluable medical compounds and are widely used as painkillers to treat kinds of pain that other drugs are often incapable of touching. They can also be highly addictive and have potential for abuse both as a prescription medication and as a street drug. Heroin, morphine, opium, fentanyl, oxycodone (sold under brands including OxyContin), hydrocodone (brands include Vicodin), codeine and methadone are all examples of opioids. While prescription and street opioids are dangerous and have worried public health experts for decades, many find the rise of synthetic drugs like fentanyl particularly concerning. Synthetic drugs, which are manufactured in a lab, are particularly potent compared to drugs like heroin and can kill in minute quantities. The small amount needed to trigger a fatal overdose, combined with the fact they are often used to lace other drugs, have made it easier to accidentally or inadvertently overdose and has contributed to the sharp incline in deaths. While there are effective and lifesaving medicines to treat opioid overdoses, such as Naloxone, they are expensive and many who need them cannot access them. Officials, who have struggled to manage numerous waves of crises triggered by the opioid epidemic, have made progress in recent years by focusing on drugs as a healthcare, rather than criminal, issue but are again struggling to contain the spread of drugs like fentanyl.
Big Number
108,820. That’s approximately how many people the CDC estimates died of a drug overdose in 2021. The figure is an all-time high and was the first time overdose deaths topped 100,000 in a calendar year. Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, were responsible for most of these deaths, according to CDC data, killing more than 72,500 people.
Further Reading
Feds Seize More Than 900 Pounds Of Fentanyl In Anti-Smuggling Operation (Forbes)
Fentanyl: America’s struggle to contain a deadly drug (Financial Times)
The meth crisis is worse than ever, but new treatments might be around the corner (STAT)