Mini-Infographics

Drug Overdoses Declining

Published on: November 07, 2024.

Sources

Data: Ahmad FB, Cisewski JA, Rossen LM, Sutton P. National Center for Health Statistics. Provisional drug overdose death counts. (October 2024).

Drivers: Ovalle D. The Washington Post. Overdose deaths decline sharply after years of fentanyl-fueled surges. (October 2024).

Substance Use

Provisional CDC data indicates that drug overdose deaths have been declining. Learn more about the latest news in substance use:

Overdose Trends: The decline in overdose deaths marks a notable reversal of the rapid rise in recent years, largely fueled by street fentanyl, which has become less available and less pure. If this trend continues, 2024 could mark the first year since 2020 that overdose deaths fall below 100,000. However, racial disparities persist as Black Americans still have significantly worse drug overdose outcomes than White Americans.
Youth Use: Drug and alcohol use among teenagers declined after increasing during the pandemic. Additionally, CDC data highlights that tobacco product use by middle school and high school students has reached a 25-year low. For 11 years, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product for youth.
Addressing Overdoses: A recent study found that patients who used GLP-1s had lower rates of opioid overdoses and alcohol intoxication than patients without prescriptions, indicating their potential use in curbing addiction. There is also attention to how technology, including chatbots and biosensors that detect overdoses, could reduce overdoses that occur when people use drugs alone.