A nonprofit organization’s analysis of government data estimates drug overdose deaths increased 1.7% in 2023 to reach a new record high.
The CDC estimates that more than 111,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period that ended in April. More than 77,000 of those deaths involved fentanyl and other synthetic opioids other than methadone. Both are record highs and increases over the prior year, according to Families Against Fentanyl.
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Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell (R) released a statement Monday pleading that parents remain vigilant for fentanyl use.
“I’ve spoken one-on-one with parents who have lost their kids to this poison. It is gut-wrenching to hear them talk about having a conversation with a child one evening, only to find that child gone the next morning,” said Mitchell. “We will keep prosecuting these cases and continue to get this information in front of parents and the public.”
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The U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions held a hearing about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is fueling the influx of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Committee Member Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) asked former U.S. Treasury Special Agent Jonathan Cassara if the CCP could “be designated as a threat to our country.” Cassara said the CCP could “very well be designated as an ongoing criminal enterprise.”
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America has seen a spike in overdose deaths since the pandemic, when drug overdose deaths rose more than 14% from 2020 to 2021.
The biggest increase, perhaps surprisingly, came from adults aged 65 and over, but rates for adults 35-44 remain highest. As synthetic opioids like fentanyl continue to displace heroin, overdose deaths have increased.
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A new study from the California-based Millennium Health (MH) showed that fentanyl positivity increased in Arizona by 261 percent between the first half of 2022 and 2019.
“We have already seen too many Arizona families lose loved ones to drugs. Our goal is to work hand-in-hand with public health and safety authorities, health care providers, and community organizations to proactively address drug exposures and help prevent drug overdose deaths,” said Angela Huskey, PharmD, CPE, Chief Clinical Officer at MH.
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Minnesota experienced a record number of drug overdoses in 2021, according to a Department of Health report released Thursday.
There were 1,286 overdose deaths reported to the Minnesota Department of Health last year, a 22% increase from 2020. This means an average of nearly four Minnesotans died every day from a drug overdose, the report says.
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Kentucky has seen a record year of overdose deaths as it continues to deal with fentanyl being trafficked into the state, multiple outlets reported based on state data released Monday.
Kentucky saw 2,250 overdose deaths in 2021, a 14.5% increase from 2020, according to the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy’s report. The state ranked third in the country for the number of overdose deaths due to the high number that occurred in Kentucky during the pandemic, according to WLKY.
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Fentanyl dominates Pennsylvania and has surpassed heroin as the major opioid in the commonwealth, posing greater health risks to those who use it and creating a bigger problem for law enforcement.
That’s according to a new report from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office warning the public of rising overdose deaths and the threat opioids pose to public health.
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Amid an epidemic of overdose deaths caused largely by fentanyl, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is warning state, local and federal law enforcement of a spike in “mass-overdose events.”
“The DEA is seeing a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events involving three or more overdoses occurring close in time at the same location,” a letter the DEA sent to law enforcement offices across the country Wednesday said.
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