Overdose Deaths, Drug Poisonings Spike In CA During 2020: CDC

Murrieta CA

16 July, 2021

10:37 PM

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CALIFORNIA — Overdose deaths in the United States soared by an unprecedented 29.4 percent during the pandemic, new numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics confirm. California was not exempt from the spike — in fact, only two states reported decreased deaths. The numbers show that an estimated 93,331 people died nationwide due to overdose in 2020, up from 72,151 in 2019. Last year's number marked the highest number of deaths ever recorded in a single year. In California, overdose deaths jumped to 9,538 in 2020, up from 6,538 in 2019. The percent change between the 12-month periods marked a 45.9 percent increase, according to NCHS data. The synthetic opioid fentanyl was involved in more than 60 percent of the drug deaths last year, The Associated Press reported, citing CDC data. Also seeing historic increases were deaths from other opioids and deaths from stimulants such as methamphetamine, but fentanyl contamination was a significant contributing factor across the board. "What's really driving the surge in overdoses is this increasingly poisoned drug supply," Shannon Monnat, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University who researches geographic patterns in overdoses, told The AP. "Nearly all of this increase is fentanyl contamination in some way. Heroin is contaminated. Cocaine is contaminated. Methamphetamine is contaminated." People who take drugs sold on the black market are often unaware that their purchase contains fentanyl — they think they're buying something else, according to law enforcement agencies across the Golden State. Fentanyl is inexpensive to manufacture and a small amount goes a long way, so it increases the bottom line for drug dealers and cartels. "Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person's body size, tolerance and past usage," according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. More than 26 percent of illicit pills tested for fentanyl contained a lethal dose, the agency reports. For many families who've lost loved ones to fentanyl, the deaths aren't overdoses — they're poisonings. The National Center for Health Statistics has yet to adopt the wording. Some experts believe the coronavirus pandemic only exacerbated what had already been deemed a crisis in the United States. Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions forced those with drug addiction into isolation and made treatment harder to get, experts told several news outlets. "Every one of those people, somebody loved them," Keith Humphreys, a psychiatry professor at Stanford University and an expert on addiction and drug policy, told The Washington Post. "It's terrifying. It's the biggest increase in overdose deaths in the history of the United States, it's the worst overdose crisis in the history of the United States, and we're not making progress. It's really overwhelming." More than 800,000 people have died of overdoses since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Center for Health Statistics is part of the CDC. In 2020, drug overdoses increased in all but two states: New Hampshire and South Dakota. This year's numbers are also preliminary — the CDC will provide final estimates in a few months. Overdose/poisoning deaths compounded what was already a tragic 2020 for the United States. By year's end, more than 375,000 people had died from COVID-19, according to a New York Times database, the largest American mortality event in a century. Full data on 2020 overdose deaths can be found on the National Center for Health Statistics' website. If you or someone you know is battling addiction or a substance abuse disorder, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's national helpline is a free and confidential resource for treatment referrals and other information. The number is 800-662-HELP.