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October 5, 2024Drug overdose deaths are decreasing sharply across the country, according to recent state and federal data, a dramatic improvement in the nation’s efforts to reverse the consequences of fentanyl’s spread in the illicit drug supply. Between April 2023 and April 2024, overdose deaths declined by about 10 percent nationally to roughly 101,000, according to preliminary data published recently by the CDC. That amounted to the largest decrease on record, according to the Biden administration. Nonfatal overdoses are also down more than 10 percent. The data suggests that some of the harm reduction tools used to combat opioid overdoses, like the overdose-reversing medication naloxone (Narcan) and the increased use among drug users of test strips that can detect the presence of fentanyl or xylazine (an animal tranquilizer) were having a significant impact. Regulations for addiction treatments like buprenorphine and methadone have been loosened and Narcan is now available over-the-counter. Narcan, which can be injected or sprayed in the nose, has become widely available in recent years, in part because of large federal grants doled out to state health departments that helped saturate communities with the medication. Some states had become much more sophisticated at using different funding sources, including from opioid settlements, to distribute Narcan to the right people. In Kentucky, many doses were given to the state’s dozens of syringe exchange programs, where opioid users can swap out used needles for new ones and receive other harm reduction tools. The changing make-up of the street drug supply could also be having an impact. Xylazine is being mixed with fentanyl by drug gangs. While toxic in humans, causing lesions and other serious long-term health problems, xylazine may delay the onset of withdrawal symptoms in some users. It's possible that means people are taking fewer potentially lethal doses of fentanyl per day. Some researchers, front-line addiction workers, members of law enforcement, and people using street drugs voiced caution about the apparent trend. Drug deaths remain too high. "It feels wonderful and great," said Dr. Mark Levine, head of the Vermont Health Department... there's still "plenty of work left to do."
Here's the link: Drug Overdose Deaths Are Dropping. The Reasons Are Not Perfectly Clear. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)