Opinion | Why Drug Overdose Deaths Are Dropping for Some, Rising for Others
Drug overdose deaths fell by an estimated 14.5 percent from June 2023 to June 2024 — the most significant decline recorded in the 21st century.When I first heard the news, however, I was saddened.Like many others, I feared this might reflect what epidemiologists call a depletion of susceptibles, a grim term that can describe the waning of an epidemic because the most vulnerable people have perished.
Over one million friends, family members, partners and children have died of overdose since 2000, mostly because of illegally manufactured fentanyl.That could be one element playing a role, but it’s far from the whole story.The United States urgently needs to identify which factors beyond the tragedy of mass death are causing fatalities to fall.
Understanding what determinants matter most could not only help prevent rises in overdoses but may also explain why some groups continue to experience sharp increases in overdose deaths and how to end these disparities.An undeniably positive trend is that far fewer people are becoming addicted to opioids.Most addictions begin during adolescence, and data shows that opioid misuse by teens and young adults has dropped sharply in the past decade.
In 2013, 9 percent of adults ages 18 to 25 reported misusing a prescription painkiller in the previous year.In 2023 that figure dropped to just 2.5 percent.
Reported misuse of street opioids like heroin has also declined.Drug epidemics are often cyclical.Younger generations witness the harm specific drugs have caused their older siblings or parents, leading them to avoid those substances.
That fewer people are starting to use the most dangerous drugs is nothing but heartening.The significant, if uneven, rise in the availability of the overdose antidote naloxone has been another major factor in reducing deaths.One nonprofit reported distributing over 1.6 million doses between August 2022 and July 2023 to groups dedicated to drug-related harm reduction.
A study of 911 calls between ...