Counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl are flooding the streets of the United States, but deaths from other street drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine are also on the rise.Utah State Attorney's Office/AP Hide Caption
toggle caption Utah U.S. Attorney's Office/Associated Press
Counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl are flooding the streets of the United States, but deaths from other street drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine are also on the rise.
Utah U.S. Attorney's Office/Associated Press
Fatal drug overdoses in the United States fell by about 3% in 2023, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is a sharp reversal from the previous year, when street fentanyl and other toxic synthetic drugs, including methamphetamine, caused an unprecedented spike in drug deaths.
However, the toll from the 2023 overdose crisis remains devastatingly high, with 107,543 lives lost.
By comparison, there were 111,029 overdose deaths in 2022. The number of drug deaths in 2023 still exceeded the 106,699 deaths recorded by the CDC in 2021.
Before the explosion in fentanyl and methamphetamine use, the number of overdose deaths in the United States was far lower. For example, in 2015 there were approximately 53,356 deaths.
Synthetic pills continue to flood the US
In a statement released last week as part of the U.S. National Drug Threat Assessment for 2024, Drug Enforcement Administration Director Ann Milgram said the overdose crisis remains dangerous.
“The transition from plant-based drugs such as heroin and cocaine to synthetic chemical-based drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine has created the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced,” Milgram said. ” he said.
A separate report published Monday in the International Drug Policy Journal found that fentanyl continues to flood American society, often in the form of counterfeit prescription painkillers.
In 2023 alone, law enforcement seized more than 115 million counterfeit drugs.
“The availability of illicit fentanyl continues to skyrocket in the United States, and the influx of fentanyl-containing pills is particularly concerning,” said Joseph Palamar, associate professor in the Department of Population Health at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine. . Lead author of the study.
U.S. officials and drug policy experts say fentanyl is primarily manufactured and smuggled by Mexican drug cartels using chemicals supplied by Chinese drug cartels.
Opioid deaths fall, but meth and cocaine take more lives
The latest data from the CDC for 2023 shows that while fentanyl and other opioids remain the deadliest threat, other street drugs are becoming increasingly dangerous.
In fact, the total number of fentanyl deaths decreased slightly in 2023, dropping from 76,226 to 74,702. Meanwhile, fatal overdoses from psychostimulants (including methamphetamine) and cocaine rose from 63,991 to 66,169.
According to the CDC, many fatal overdoses involve multiple street drugs, so the number of deaths caused by a particular drug “does not equal the total number of drug overdose deaths.”
The study also found uneven progress across the United States in curbing fatal overdoses.
Kansas, Indiana, Maine and Nebraska saw drug deaths decrease by more than 15%, the CDC reported. Other states also saw increases, including Alaska, Oregon and Washington, where drug deaths rose by at least 27%.
Strategies aimed at curbing the overdose crisis have emerged as a political flashpoint, being hotly debated in Congress and state capitals across the country.
Some states, including California and Oregon, have begun rolling back drug policies aimed at shifting to a public health model of responding to addiction and reducing the role of police.
But there is also little sign that the increasingly toxic supply of street drugs is being significantly reduced due to stricter drug laws, increased border security and increased drug seizures.
In its latest report, the DEA found that “no field office exists.” [in the U.S.] Fentanyl is reported to be either harder to obtain or more expensive, either of which could indicate a decline in supply. ”
NPR's Emma Bowman and Martin Caste contributed reporting.
