US drug overdose deaths have declined, CDC says

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“The number of people dying from drug overdoses in the US has decreased, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a new report. Overall, overdose deaths declined by roughly 14% from June 2023 to June 2024. It’s an encouraging sign, experts say. Overdose deaths had been on a steady rise since the 1990s, with a jump during the pandemic, according to CDC data. More than 108,000 people died from overdose deaths in the 12 months leading up to both June 2022 and 2023, but by this June that number had dropped to 97,000. ‘While these data are cause for optimism, we must not lose sight of the fact that nearly 100,000 people are still estimated to be dying annually from drug overdose in the US,’ said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in a statement to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.” (11/14/24)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8ek5l04yy7o