Fewer overdose deaths reported last year, preliminary CDC data reveals

WASHINGTON (TND) — A glimmer of hope in the opioid crisis for the first time since the pandemic: The number of overdose deaths is dropping from record highs, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

About 107,500 people died of overdoses in the U.S. last year, including both American citizens and non-citizens who were in the country at the time they died, the CDC estimated. That’s down 3% from 2022 when there were an estimated 111,000 such deaths, the agency said.

"I think the preliminary numbers are encouraging but one death is too many," Amara Durham, founder of Urgent Care Mental Health said. "We know based on the number that education and awareness is making a difference we just have to make sure that difference is made from east to west."

Agency officials noted the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, but that they still expect a drop when the final counts are in. It would be only the second annual decline since the current national drug death epidemic began more than three decades ago.

The effects are being felt from coast to coast.

In San Antonio, Texas, KABB shared Nici Goles' story. She lost her son Braden who took a pill he thought was prescription medication laced with fentanyl.

"First thing I'm going to tell every parent is: wake up," Goles said. "I am telling you it happens everywhere. It does not discriminate."

In the Pacific Northwest, Multnomah County, Oregon released their preliminary data for 2023. KATU in Portland reporting in 2023, 322 people died from a fentanyl-related overdose in the county.

"The data went from two deaths a month in 2018 to partial data in 2023 shows us about 36 deaths per month. More than one per day," Emily Mosites, epidemiology manager in Multnomah County said.

Overall, the preliminary CDC data says fentanyl-related deaths are declining, however, deaths tied to meth and cocaine went up. The CDC did not offer a reason for the drop in fentanyl-related deaths.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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