Bizarre Number of Synthetic Opioid Deaths in the US

According to early data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 2022 people will die of drug overdoses in the United States in 110.000.

Overdose deaths spiked during the first two years of the pandemic, exacerbating years of steady increases. Monthly updates of the preliminary data suggest that overdose deaths have leveled off in 2022, but they still end up slightly higher than the year before. The 109.680 overdose deaths in 2022 are the highest recorded in a calendar year, compared to 109.179 in 2021.

Deadly opioids

However, the data released by the CDC on Wednesday is subject to change as death certificates and records are reviewed. The final data on drug overdose deaths will not be available until months later.

Fentanyl, the powerful one synthetic opioid, is one of the main reasons for the rise in fatal overdoses. More than two-thirds of all overdose deaths by 2022 involved synthetic opioids – more than 75.000 deaths.

Psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine and cocaine, have also become more common over the past two years. According to preliminary CDC data, both types of drugs were implicated in more than a quarter of all overdose deaths by 2022. Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement that the Biden administration is taking steps to prevent more overdose deaths. “We are improving access to Naloxone, an overdose reversal drug, and we are attacking the illicit supply chain of fentanyl and other opioids at every bottleneck.”

Source: edition.cnn.com (EN)