US Overdose Deaths Exceeded 100,000 in a Single Year, Data Reveals.
The data represents the first time overdose deaths in the U.S. have exceeded such a number.
The data was compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and represents the span between May 2020 through April 2021.
The number is on par with deaths due to diabetes.
It’s a magnitude of overdose death that we haven’t seen in this country, Katherine Keyes, Columbia University Drug Abuse Issues Expert, via Associated Press.
Experts say that the rise of fentanyl and opportunities for isolation during pandemic lockdowns have greatly contributed to the overdose deaths.
Fentanyl overdoses surpassed those caused by heroin five years ago.
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Fentanyl is now often mixed with cocaine and meth, leading to rises in overdose deaths due to those drugs, as well.
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While such deaths have been on the rise for the past 20 years.
They have increased by 30 percent in the past two years alone.
This is unacceptable and it requires an unprecedented response, Dr. Rahul Gupta, National Drug Control Policy, via Associated Press.
President Biden referred to the data as a "tragic milestone," and urged Congress to allocate more funding to address issues surrounding drug addiction.
Law enforcement and academic experts have expressed pessimism about the future.
2021 is going to be terrible, Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, UC San Francisco, via Associated Press.
I honestly don't see it getting better, not soon, Lt.
Jeff Wersal, Regional Drug Task Force, via Associated Press