Drug overdose deaths plunged by 26.9% last year to the lowest level since 2019 as opioids claimed fewer lives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.
According to a provisional estimate from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, overdose deaths fell from 110,037 in 2023 to 80,391 in 2024.
“There was a large decrease in deaths involving synthetic opioids, a category which includes fentanyl,” Farida Ahmad, a CDC statistician, told The Washington Times.
The numbers confirm a second straight year of declining drug overdoses, reversing sharp increases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CDC did not explain the drop in synthetic opioid deaths.
Several researchers not connected to the report cited public policies aimed at decreasing illegal fentanyl use and the growing availability of naloxone, an overdose-reversal drug sold under the brand name Narcan, as possible factors in the decline.
“We might now be seeing some gains from those policies,” said David Powell, a health economist at the RAND Corp.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin, is considered the key driver of an overdose crisis that accelerated during COVID-19 lockdowns. Nearly half a million Americans have died from opioid overdoses the past five years.
Social worker Caroline Beidler, managing editor of the addiction treatment website Recovery.com, credited “local community-based recovery efforts” for last year’s dramatic turnaround.
“People with lived experience in recovery are mobilizing at historic numbers to not only advocate but make a direct impact by creating local services with and without government funding,” Ms. Beidler said. “Examples include naloxone distribution, sober housing and peer support.”
The CDC estimated that overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, dropped by 36.5% from 76,282 in 2023 to 48,422 in 2024.
Deaths from psychostimulants such as methamphetamine fell by 20.5% from 37,096 to 29,456 over the same period.
Overdose deaths were down by 28% for cocaine, from 30,833 to 22,174, and by 23.8% for natural or semisynthetic opioids, from 10,511 to 8,006.
The Biden and Trump administrations have directed billions of dollars toward reducing opioid overdoses, but with different strategies.
In 2017, the first Trump administration declared the opioid crisis a public emergency and secured funding to combat addiction. Those initiatives focused on reducing illicit opioid availability, preventing abuse and increasing access to treatment and recovery services.
The Biden administration prioritized harm reduction strategies, expanding access to fentanyl test strips and naloxone. The Biden team also supported decriminalizing substance abuse to allow and attempt to regulate drug use.
“We are validated,” Justin Phillips of Overdose Lifeline, which worked with the Biden administration to distribute naloxone and fentanyl test strips, said Wednesday. “I believe that increased access to naloxone, community outreach and education contributed to this decline.”
During his first month back in office, President Trump cited illegal fentanyl flowing into the U.S. to justify his decision to impose sweeping tariffs on other nations.
“This large decrease in overdose deaths in the last year of the Biden administration has set the Trump administration up to continue the trend,” said Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University psychologist and addiction researcher. “It is not yet clear what drug policy will be under Trump, but addiction is an issue that has long interested him.”
Dr. Sylvie Stacy, chief medical officer at the addiction recovery website Rehab.com, said she doubts overdose deaths will drop as sharply in the next few years.
“I think it’s too early to say whether overdose deaths will continue to decline,” she said. “Continuing the downward trend will require both cracking down on the drug supply and providing evidence-based care and prevention efforts. We need a balance.”
