Provisional year-end data from the CDC finds that drug overdose deaths in the U.S. continued their unrelenting rise last year, surging to a record 108,000, and fueled by the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl and, increasingly, methamphetamines. The increase of nearly 15 percent follows a much steeper spike of 30 percent in 2020, but the overall number of fatalities has gone over the country’s peak deaths from AIDS, car crashes, and guns, killing about a quarter as many Americans last year as COVID-19 (although San Francisco, for example, reported more overdose deaths than those from the virus). Deaths involving synthetic opioids — largely fentanyl — rose to 71,000 from 58,000, while those associated with stimulants like methamphetamine, which has grown cheaper and more lethal in recent years, increased to 33,000 from 25,000. Fentanyl, which is made in a lab, can be cheaper and easier to produce than heroin, enhancing its appeal to dealers and traffickers. But because it is strong and sold in varying formulations, small differences in quantity can mean the difference between a drug user’s usual dose and one that proves deadly. It is particularly dangerous when it is used unwittingly by drug users who do not usually take opioids. The White House recently issued its first national drug control strategy, calling for comprehensive programs combining arm reduction, treatment, and law enforcement. We need to move quickly to provide strong, committed leadership on both the federal and state level and to mobilize all available resources to confront this tragic public health crisis
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Rosenthal Center for AddictIon Studies