The U.S. saw another record number of overdose fatalities in 2022, according to provisional CDC data released on June 14.
Over 109,000 Americans died from drug related overdoses between Jan. 2022 and Jan. 2023, a 0.7% increase from the year before, Reuters reports. This statistic follows the trend of increasing drug overdose deaths, which first broke 100,000 in 2021, due to the heightened mental health pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased availability of deadly drugs such as Fentanyl, Reuters reports.
While the national average increased by 0.7%, a handful of key locales accounted for the majority of the death increase. Washington saw a 24.13% increase in overdose fatalities, New York City saw an increase of 13.91%, and Texas saw an increase of 12.65%, according to CDC data.
Overdose deaths have more than doubled in the last decade, with the CDC having reported 47,523 deaths for the 2014 calendar year. The largest factors to cause this sizable increase over the decade are the continued abuse of prescription opiates and illegal drugs like heroin, Reuters reports. (Related: NYC Unveils Vending Machines Stocked With Crack Pipes, Safe Sex Kits: REPORT)
The NYPD is investigating the overdose deaths of two so-called asylum seekers at a mega-shelter in Bushwick, to see if a larger drug organization is operating at the location.
The men were identified as Anthony Jose Luna Ruiz, 24, of Venezuela, and Jhonny Jose Torres, 25, of… pic.twitter.com/i7AMoS24lo
— Crime in NYC (@CrimeInNYC) June 10, 2023
This information has come despite a Biden Administration push to cut overdose deaths with the 2022 National Drug Control Strategy, which aims to simultaneously weaken international supply chains and increase resources for addicts. Part of the strategy involved placing vending machines supplied with drug paraphernalia on the street in coordination with the NDCS. Many cities have also followed suit with this “harm reduction” strategy, placing similar vending machines that provide “safe smoking kits” and the anti-overdose drug Naloxone.