CDC: Drug overdose deaths fell last year for the first time since 2018

The number of Americans dying from drug overdoses fell last year for the first time since 2018, according to provisional federal estimates released Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that drug overdose deaths declined by 3% from 111,029 in 2022 to 107,543 in 2023. The count increased from 2018 to 2019 and then surged from 2020 to 2022 as potential addicts stayed home during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl decreased by 2%, from 76,702 to 74,226, leading the way in last year’s drop, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics said.

“Today’s data … is heartening news for our nation and demonstrates we are making progress to prevent deaths from drug overdoses,” CDC Chief Medical Officer Deb Houry said in a statement.

“However, this does not mean we have accomplished our mission,” Dr. Houry said. “The data show we still lost over 100,000 people last year.”

Farida Ahmad, a CDC statistician who analyzed the numbers, told The Washington Times that after “large increases in recent years, we’re finally starting to see a slowdown and a slight decrease in the number of drug overdose deaths.”

The CDC also found that fatal overdoses from natural or semisynthetic drugs such as morphine, which have grown less common, dropped by 16%, from 12,135 to 10,171. Overall, deaths from all types of opioids fell by roughly 3.7%, from 84,181 in 2022 to 81,083 last year.

Nevertheless, the CDC said fatal overdoses increased for other leading deadly drugs during the 12 months ending in December.

Overdose deaths caused by cocaine grew by 5.2%, from 28,441 to 29,918. Those that resulted from taking too many psychostimulants, including methamphetamine, jumped by nearly 2%, from 35,550 to 36,251.

The federal agency did not explain the overall decline but said the tally is “incomplete and subject to change” until it receives more numbers. It noted that the listed deaths for each drug may have involved other substances.

Reached for comment, some health experts not involved with the report greeted its findings with cautious optimism.

“I think we should take this as a sign of hope, but not as a sign we can give up all of the hard work we’re doing,” said Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University psychologist and addiction researcher specializing in the opioid epidemic.

Mr. Humphreys said factors in the drop include the waning of the pandemic, the fact that fentanyl had already killed its most vulnerable users, and the expansion of overdose rescue and treatment medications. Still, he said, drug overdose deaths remain high.

Naloxone, an overdose-reversing nasal spray often sold under the brand name Narcan, became more available last year as overdose deaths decreased. The Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan spray for over-the-counter use in March 2023 and a generic version in July.

According to earlier CDC data, prescriptions for naloxone increased annually from 904,179 in 2019 to 1,675,474 in 2022 before it became available over the counter.

The CDC released last year’s fatal overdose numbers during National Prevention Week, an annual commemoration that the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration uses to “showcase substance use prevention activities across the country.”

In a Monday news release, SAMHSA noted that the nation “is in the midst of an evolving overdose crisis, partially driven by a proliferation of fake pills that contain illicitly made fentanyl and other substances, like xylazine.”

The agency pointed out that monthly drug overdose deaths among those ages 10 to 19 jumped by 109% from 2019 to 2021. Public health experts noted a surge in youth mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and addictions as more teens stayed home during COVID-19 lockdowns.

“Substance use has never been riskier ― whether it’s someone’s first time using or someone with substance use disorder,” SAMHSA said.

According to the CDC, overdose deaths fell by 15% or more last year in four states: Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana and Maine.

Meanwhile, Alaska, Washington and Oregon reported “notable increases” of at least 27% in fatal overdoses.

Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that depresses the central nervous system, has fueled a decadelong surge in drug overdoses that worsened during pandemic restrictions.

In legal form, doctors prescribe fentanyl as a painkiller. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.

The CDC previously reported that the death rate from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, fentanyl analogs and tramadol increased by 4.1% from 2021 to 2022.

Timothy Jansen, a licensed mental health counselor and CEO of a federal 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline center in Hyattsville, Maryland, said the number of calls and text messages for mental health and substance abuse help has been rising for decades.

He urged people struggling with addiction “to reach out for help by calling 9-8-8.”

“We are seeing the same things we have seen for years, some calls related to substance abuse [and] related to suicide,” Mr. Jansen said. “But more often, it’s third-party folks concerned about a loved one. Calls seem the same from our end.”