According to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States is expected to reach 107,543 in 2023.
While that figure is frighteningly high, it actually represents a 3% decrease when compared to the all-time high of 111,029 deaths reported in 2022. The data compiled by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics is preliminary, with final numbers due to be released next year.
While the slight downward trend may be a welcome sign for addicts and those who help drug users, experts say more work needs to be done to dramatically reduce overdose deaths, which have increased more than fivefold in the past 25 years, according to CDC data.
Here are five takeaways from the CDC’s latest numbers.
Firefighters are treating an Illinois woman who reportedly died of a drug overdose. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Fentanyl overdose deaths number in the thousands. What’s behind the increase?
1. Top drugs used in overdose deaths
Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are by far the largest cause of overdose deaths in 2023, contributing to about 7 in 10 deaths.
Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. It was first synthesized in 1960 by Belgian chemist Paul Janssen as a painkiller and has proven to be a useful drug in helping trauma patients.
But it’s only in the last decade that the drug has made its way onto the black market and truly begun to destroy lives and communities across the United States.
One of the main factors behind the recent surge in fentanyl is that it has become cheaper to produce. While other plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, require cultivation or farming, synthetic drugs like fentanyl are cheaper for both producers and consumers. Fentanyl is primarily produced in Mexico using ingredients from China and smuggled across the southern border.
Opioid overdose deaths actually fell from an estimated 84,181 in 2022 to 81,083 last year, according to CDC data.
2. Cocaine and methamphetamine overdoses are on the rise
In 2023, the number of overdose deaths caused by dangerous synthetic opioids like fentanyl decreased compared to 2022, but the number of deaths caused by psychostimulants like cocaine and methamphetamines increased.
The CDC estimates that stimulants were responsible for more than 36,000 deaths, and cocaine for nearly 30,000.
Preliminary toxicology results from the deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans found dead in the snow two days after a gameday rally showed they had THC, cocaine and lethal amounts of fentanyl in their systems, Fox News Digital reported. Previously reported.
Michigan police officer describes terrifying moment he collapsed from fentanyl exposure
A man smokes on a sidewalk in Portland, Oregon on January 10, 2024. (Hannah Rae Lambert/Fox News Digital)
3. States with the most notable overdose spikes and declines
Alaska, Washington and Oregon all saw increases of at least 27% compared to the same period in 2022.
A new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) finds that overdose deaths in Western states may be linked to the widespread availability of fentanyl.
Law enforcement agencies seized more than 115 million pills containing illicit fentanyl in 2023, 2,300 times more than the nearly 50,000 pills seized in 2017.
According to the NIH study, the region currently accounts for the majority of total fentanyl seizures and the total weight of fentanyl seized. Additionally, 77.8% of fentanyl seized in the West in 2023 was in pill form.
In March, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill to make certain drugs illegal again after a spike in overdose deaths. Michael Bock, a private security worker in Portland, previously told Fox News that fentanyl’s low price of 25 cents a pill was having a devastating impact on his community.
Much of the fentanyl imported into the U.S. comes through the southern border, said Dr. Mark Siegel, a physician and clinical professor at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City.
“More than 70 percent of overdose deaths are caused by fentanyl because the drug cartels are supplying it in such large quantities,” Siegel told Fox News Digital. “But the second problem is that fentanyl is being mixed with other drugs, like methamphetamine and cocaine.”
Siegel said fentanyl suppresses breathing and causes a person to stop breathing.
Several states across the country have seen significant declines in overdose deaths.
For example, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana and Maine saw declines of 15% or more.
Liberal Oregon reverses course, passes bill to recriminalize hard drugs after spike in overdose deaths
4. A growing trend in drug overdose deaths over time
While the latest figures may be good news in terms of an overall drop in overdoses last year, the trends over the past 25 years show a clear and frightening upward curve: From roughly 20,000 deaths in 1999, the number of deaths skyrocketed to more than 70,500 in 2019, and is set to peak at 111,029 in 2023.
In 2022, overdose deaths reached a record high of 107,941.
Joe Schrank, founder of Remedy Recovery, an organization that provides treatment for substance use disorders, said a new approach is needed to significantly reduce the number of overdoses.
“All of those numbers that you’re looking at are lives, individual families, individual people,” Schrank told Fox News Digital.
“If we’re going to tackle the drug problem, we have to treat it as a public health issue, not as a crime, but many countries don’t understand that. So in France, Portugal, Switzerland, drug overdoses do happen, but they’re very rare. And the reason is that these countries treat drug abuse, or however you want to describe it, as a public health issue.”
A man uses a drug use booth at OnPoint NYC’s safe injection site on January 24, 2022 in New York City. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Schrank said those who treat this as a public health issue can provide safe injection sites, like those in Vancouver, Canada, that can properly inform users on how to take the drugs and provide them with ways to overcome addiction.
“In Vancouver, two million shots have been administered under the supervision of public health officials and there have been no overdose deaths. There have been a lot of overdoses. So this is one way of addressing the problem.”
“Also, strangely enough, there are all kinds of protections for alcohol users and there are safe places to drink, like hotel bars and lobbies. There is a secure supply chain so no matter where you buy spirits, it’s not poisonous. That’s not the case with other drugs.”
Schrank argues that Vancouver’s treatment approach shows that Oregon’s surge in overdoses wasn’t directly attributable to decriminalization.
5. Drug users don’t know their drugs are laced with fentanyl
While some people intentionally ingest fentanyl, the NIH says many people don’t realize that the deadly drugs they’re about to take contain it. This is especially true of illegal, counterfeit pills, which are often made to look like prescription drugs like oxycodone or benzodiazepines but actually contain fentanyl, the NIH study said.
According to the NIH, studies from 2010 to 2021 report that overdose deaths among teenagers increased dramatically and have remained at high levels into 2022. This increase in deaths is largely due to the widespread availability of illicit fentanyl, the proliferation of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, and the ease of purchasing the pills through social media.
Schrank said it’s time for a national conversation about drug use and overdose, noting that the issue affects many families across the U.S. He noted that Hunter Biden’s crack cocaine addiction was recently challenged in court and the issue has reached the White House.
“There’s a hunter in every household. There’s a drunk uncle, a concerned nephew, someone in every household. We all have this problem and it’s amazing how little we talk about it.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration in Houston said it seized more than 7 million doses of fentanyl in 2022. (U.S. Department of State)
5. Ways drug users can reduce the likelihood of overdose
Although illegal drugs like fentanyl and cocaine are illegal, the CDC can’t stop people from taking them, so it has taken several steps to help drug users reduce their risk of overdose.
Fentanyl test strips, a relatively new method to prevent drug overdoses, are recommended by authorities to be used before ingestion. These small pieces of paper can detect the presence of fentanyl in drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, as well as in other drug forms such as pills, powders and injections.
The CDC also advises users to keep naloxone, a drug that quickly reverses an opioid overdose, on hand in case they need to call emergency services or administer naloxone, and the agency recommends avoiding mixing drugs and not using any drug on its own.
“The key words here are ‘accidental’ overdose deaths,” Siegel said. “We’re not talking about people who commit suicide. We’re talking about people who, in most cases, accidentally overdose while trying to get high, not realizing the potency of the drug.”
“That’s where education is key. Naloxone and Narcan can help. Again, people need to know that one dose of Narcan may not be enough. Fentanyl has a very long half-life, so you may need to take two or three doses.”
Meanwhile, Schrank said one of the best ways to help people quit hard drugs is to offer them a safe place, rather than impose prison sentences. Users might refuse help at first, but then eventually change their mind, he said.
“If you say that to someone 10 times, they might say ‘OK’ once. But if you arrest them and put them in jail in any way or put them on public defense, they’re not going to do that.”
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“It’s always done through human connection and a non-judgmental attitude, and the truth is that people have a right to self-determination. And so many families, communities and towns across America know that this is the right. [some people] How do you want to spend your life?”
“But it’s their choice, and they can make that choice even if everyone around them doesn’t agree with their choice. And they [saying]”‘Well, let’s just overdose and die.’ We have a much better way than that.”
Information about addiction treatment can be obtained by visiting findtreatment.gov or calling the National Helpline at 800-662-HELP (4357).
Fox News’ Bradford Betts contributed to this report.
