Fatal drug overdoses, which
fell in the U.S. last year for the first time since before the pandemic, are continuing to decline,
according to preliminary CDC data.
Why it matters: Overdoses kill more than 100,000 people a year, but the number appears to be dropping rapidly.
- The most recent CDC data, which ends in April, shows that the number of overdose deaths is falling faster than the 3% decrease between 2022 and 2023.
By the numbers: CDC data looks at rolling totals over 12-month periods.
- In the 12 months ending in April, there was a 10% decline from the same period a year before.
Zoom in: Public health experts are stunned by how dramatically deaths are falling,
NPR reports.
- “This is going to be the best year we've had since all of this started,” Keith Humphreys, a drug policy researcher at Stanford, told NPR.
Between the lines: We need more data and more research to determine what’s driving the decline in deaths, but experts have theories.
- Naloxone is more widely available, and more drug users carry the medication with them for safety.
- Many of the pandemic-era circumstances — like social isolation, increased stress, and people using drugs alone — are no longer factors.