The number of Americans who died of drug overdoses in record numbers was reported by federal researchers on Wednesday, the result of lost access to treatment, rising mental health problems and wider availability of dangerously potent new street drugs.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses in the year that ended in April, up from 78,000 deaths in the previous year. The number of overdose deaths in the US has exceeded 100,000 for the first time, more than the toll of car accidents and guns combined. Since 2015, overdose deaths have doubled.
The rise in deaths may have slowed, but the grim threshold still signals a public health crisis that was obscured by the Covid epidemic.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has never seen numbers like this before. Most of the deaths occur among people aged 25 to 55 in the prime of their lives.
There are a lot of downstream consequences if they leave behind friends, family and children. This is a big challenge to our society.
Fentanyl, a fast-acting drug that is 100 times more powerful than morphine, was the cause of the rise in deaths. Fentanyl is added to other drugs to make them more potent.
During the year, overdose deaths related to use of drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine, and natural and semi-synthetic opioids, such as prescription pain medication, increased.
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Paramedics in Brooklyn, Md., responded to a patient in cardiac arrest after an overdose in May 2020.
Experts said that Fentanyl's ubiquity and the unique social conditions caused by the Pandemic have created a perfect storm. Some drug users may not have wanted to take it. The risk of overdose is very high, and that is what is being sold.
Many people are dying without knowing what they are consuming.
People in recovery are more likely to have a relapse. The health maelstrom was created by the initial Pandemic, along with the rise in mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.
The treatment for substance abuse disorders was postponed as health care providers nationwide struggled to tend to huge numbers of coronaviruses.
Dr. Joseph Lee, president and chief executive of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, said that the loss of community and social support during the Pandemic contributed to the rise in overdose deaths. A lot of people who seem to be more sick are being seen by Dr. Lee.
The majority of deaths were among men between the ages of 25 and 54. While white Americans have been most affected by the crisis, a growing number of Black Americans have also been affected.
The largest year-over-year increases were in California, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia and Kentucky. The toll in Vermont increased by 85 percent during the reporting period.
In Washington State, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Alaska, Nebraska, Virginia and the Carolinas there were increases of 40 percent or more. In New Hampshire, New Jersey and South Dakota there were no deaths.
I would have told you that deaths are increasing. Dr. Andrew Kolodny, medical director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative, said that he didn't think it would get to this.
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A police officer and a member of the Turning Point recovery center checked in on people struggling with addiction last year.
Most of the people who died were already suffering from addiction, or were in recovery and relapsed, and that's an ever-present risk during times of stress and isolation. Many people with an addiction to synthetic opioids became addicted after being given prescription drugs.
He said that teenagers are often given the drugs when their wisdom teeth come out.
The American Rescue Plan Act includes over $1 billion for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders and over $30 million for local services for people struggling with addiction.
Federal funds can be used to buy rapid Fentanyl test strips that people can use to check if drugs have been spiked with the drug.
Critics say the response has been inadequate. Universal access to treatment and treatment centers in every county that offer same-day access to substance abuse treatment are some of the things they have called for.
Buprenorphine, a first-line treatment for opiate use disorder, requires federal permission to be prescribed, which limits the number of providers.
If you want to see deaths come down, you have to make it easier for people who are addicted to drugs to get treatment.
It has to be easier to get treatment than to buy drugs.
