OD Deaths Continue to Skyrocket. NewsWire

NewsWire: 10/21/21

• The number of fatal drug overdoses over a twelve-month period has grown to a new high: 96,000. The new CDC numbers ending in March 2021 reflect increases in overdoses in all states but three. (Axios)
• NH: According to the CDC, there were 96,779 overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in March 2021. That’s a +29.6% YoY increase, and a record number of deaths. 

• While this news is distressing, it’s not surprising. Since the pandemic began, we have been carefully tracking the resurgence of the opioid epidemic. In July, the CDC reported that in CY 2020, overdose deaths jumped nearly +30% YoY to 93,000. (See “Overdose Deaths Up 30% in 2020.”) These new data show that the upward trend is still in place.
• Most of the mortality rise continues to be attributable to fentanyl. A synthetic opioid nearly a hundred times more potent than heroin, it’s cheap to manufacture and easy to smuggle. (For a video discussion of the fentanyl trade, see “Demography Q&A.”)
• Fentanyl's dominance raises the possibility that a growing share of deaths are solely due to the extreme risk this drug poses for users. Because a mere 2 mg can be fatal, users can't possibly determine visually whether they're taking the right dose. And the illegal drug makers, who bulk out their pills or powder with filler, are not equipped to ensure precise dosage.
• It gets worse. Drug makers often put fentanyl into fake prescription opioid pills that are not supposed to contain any fentanyl at all. Just last month, the DEA warned of fake opioid prescriptions laced with the drug. So far this year, the agency has confiscated 9.5M of these counterfeit pills, which is more than they seized in the past two years combined. The DEA also reported that 40% of the seized pills contained "potentially lethal doses." Most alarming of all, dealers are cutting fentanyl into non-opioid party drugs. There have been numerous reports of people dying from fentanyl-contaminated cocaine. 
• At this point, rising overdose fatalities may not be driven by any rise in the number or carelessness of users. Rather it may mostly reflect changes in today's drug supply: It's becoming riskier and deadlier.