Source: Common Dreams
“Federal public health officials on Thursday announced an unprecedented drop last year in drug overdose deaths, which have plagued the United States for decades and had been rising steadily over the past several years. But experts warned that now is exactly the wrong time to ‘take our foot off the gas pedal,’ as the Republican Party and President Donald Trump are threatening to do with steep cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that an estimated 80,391 people in the U.S. died of drug overdoses in 2024 — a 27% drop, with about 30,000 fewer deaths than in 2023 and ‘more than 81 lives saved every day.’ Synthetic opioids like fentanyl were still involved in most overdose deaths last year, but those deaths were down 37% between 2023-24.” (05/15/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/how-many-drug-overdoses-in-2024