Fentanyl Overdoses Continue Decreasing All Fifty States

What Happened?

According to a report from the University of North Carolina at Chappel Hill, drug overdoses involving fentanyl began decreasing in 2022 and that trend has continued through this year. 

The data shows the decreases occurred in all fifty states and the District of Columbia beginning in 2022. 

During an interview with National Public Radio, Naburun Dasgupta, lead researcher on the project, said “This is not a blip. We’re on track to return to levels of fatal overdose before fentanyl emerged.” 

Researchers gathered data from a number of sources, including records kept by the Centers for Disease Control. 

Why it Matters

What’s important about the findings is the duration of the measured decreases. Because the measured decreases in fentanyl overdoses occurred over several years in so many locations, that indicates the trend may be sustainable. 

Drug overdoses in general in the United States are also down by nearly twenty-five percent.

Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the decline in fatal overdoses linked to fentanyl is even larger. According to Dr. Volkow, “From fentanyl it's a 30.6 percent decrease in one year, that's a huge reduction.” 

Data from the Centers for Disease Control indicate drug deaths in the United States fell from 114,000 in 2023 to 87,000 in 2024. The drop in drug overdoses doesn’t necessarily mean an equal reduction in drug use because of the widespread availability of Narcan. 

Narcan has prevented overdose deaths but people who needed to be revived would likely have died without it.

Researchers say they don’t know exactly why the decreases in overdoses have occurred in the past three years. But they point to better treatment options, a reduction in the potency of fentanyl available on the street, and the widespread availability of Narcan as likely reasons. 

Fentanyl is an extremely powerful painkilling opioid drug that can be created by combining several precursor chemicals in the proper proportions. Because many of the precursor chemicals, or ingredients, also have a number of legitimate commercial uses, law enforcement officials have struggled to shut off the supply. 

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when fentanyl began being used in the United States illegally. But much of the available data suggests overdoses became significant during the 2010s. Because some doses of fentanyl were so highly concentrated early on, a single dose could be lethal to the user.

How it Affects You

A sustained decline in fentanyl overdoses is a health care win for the United States, and so is the corresponding drop in overall drug overdoses. 

Drug overdoses have devastated communities across America and upended millions of lives. Not just of those who use illicit drugs, but of their families and loved ones as well.