Lead Story: Drug Overdose Deaths, by Selected Sociodemographic and Social Determinants of Health Characteristics — 25 States and the District of Columbia, 2019–2020

Drug Overdose Deaths, by Selected Sociodemographic and Social Determinants of Health Characteristics — 25 States and the District of Columbia, 2019–2020 🔓

CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

This CDC report shows that as overdose deaths exploded during the pandemic, racial disparities widened.  Specifically, while overall overdose deaths increased by 30% from 2019 to 2020, rates spiked much more among Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native populations than among white, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic people. Overdose deaths had been rising for decades before the pandemic, and they continued to climb into 2021, reaching more than 107,000 that year. Disparities were emerging in the pre-pandemic years and are expected to keep growing without concentrated efforts to stem them. Not surprisingly, the deaths were broadly driven by illicit fentanyl, though deaths attributed to other drug types, including stimulants like methamphetamine, have also been rising in recent years. The vast majority of people who died did not have evidence of past treatment for substance use disorder. White people who died appeared to have higher rates of treatment than people of other races and ethnicities.

 

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