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Drug overdose deaths for the year ending in April 2021 exceeded 100K for the first time. There are now more deaths due to fentanyl alone than there were from all drugs in 2016. (The Washington Post) |
NH: The US has passed another grim milestone in the opioid epidemic.
CDC preliminary data show that there were 100,306 overdose deaths in the 12 months ending in April 2021. That’s a +28% YoY increase. And it marks the first time overdose deaths have exceeded 100K.
Last month we wrote that much of this rise is being driven by fentanyl. (See “OD Deaths Continue to Skyrocket.”)
The drug is cheap to produce, easy to transport, extremely potent, perfect for mixing with other fine powders, and many users have no idea they're ingesting it. It only takes 2 or 3 mg to overdose; that’s equivalent to a few grains of salt--more deadly than sarin or potassium cyanide or VX nerve agent.
Increasingly, fentanyl is being laced into phony prescription opioid pills that aren't supposed to contain any fentanyl. The DEA has warned of synthetic pills made to mimic Vicodin or Percocet.
In August and September alone, the agency confiscated enough of these pills to kill 700,000 people.
Even more worrisome, fentanyl is making its way into social drugs that aren't supposed to contain opioids at all. In 2015, there were 17 overdose deaths in NYC that involved only cocaine cut with fentanyl. In 2019, there were 183. And this fall, in Connecticut, 39 people overdosed from fentanyl-spiked marijuana.
The tragic bottom line is that a large share of Americans dying of fentanyl overdoses--no one knows how large--have no idea they're consuming it.
In opioid look-alikes, illegal drug fabricators are using fentanyl because it's so much cheaper and easier than procuring the less-deadly opioids (like oxycodone or hydrocodone) used by legal manufacturers.
In social drugs, they're cutting their cocaine or hashish or ecstasy with fentanyl, again, to provide a more potent high with little expense. Few of the illegal merchants are able to titrate the minuscule fentanyl doses accurately to ensure they are safe.
Politicians are responding by toughening laws and enforcement. In September, President Biden extended an order to classify fentanyl as a schedule 1 drug and proposed making this classification permanent.
This allows for stricter sentencing of dealers. In California, some prosecutors are attempting to bring homicide charges against dealers who knowingly sell fentanyl that leads to death.
IMO, this toughening policy shift is just getting underway. The public will demand a lot more of it. Just wait until carfentanil, another fentanyl analog, becomes more widespread in the drug trade.
The synthetic opioid is commercially used as a tranquilizer for large animals and is 100x more potent than fentanyl. In September, authorities confiscated 46 pounds of the substance from a home in southern California; that's enough to kill 50m people.
Bottom line: This health crisis shows no signs of slowing down. In 2020, incredibly, fentanyl deaths alone were larger than total traffic deaths plus total murders--and last year was a bad year for both traffic deaths and murders.
Growth in this single cause of death is beginning to significantly reduce America's population-wide life expectancy.
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ABOUT NEIL HOWE
Neil Howe is a renowned authority on generations and social change in America. An acclaimed bestselling author and speaker, he is the nation's leading thinker on today's generations—who they are, what motivates them, and how they will shape America's future.
A historian, economist, and demographer, Howe is also a recognized authority on global aging, long-term fiscal policy, and migration. He is a senior associate to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., where he helps direct the CSIS Global Aging Initiative.
Howe has written over a dozen books on generations, demographic change, and fiscal policy, many of them with William Strauss. Howe and Strauss' first book, Generations is a history of America told as a sequence of generational biographies. Vice President Al Gore called it "the most stimulating book on American history that I have ever read" and sent a copy to every member of Congress. Newt Gingrich called it "an intellectual tour de force." Of their book, The Fourth Turning, The Boston Globe wrote, "If Howe and Strauss are right, they will take their place among the great American prophets."
Howe and Strauss originally coined the term "Millennial Generation" in 1991, and wrote the pioneering book on this generation, Millennials Rising. His work has been featured frequently in the media, including USA Today, CNN, the New York Times, and CBS' 60 Minutes.
Previously, with Peter G. Peterson, Howe co-authored On Borrowed Time, a pioneering call for budgetary reform and The Graying of the Great Powers with Richard Jackson.
Howe received his B.A. at U.C. Berkeley and later earned graduate degrees in economics and history from Yale University.
