New CDC data shows alcohol kills 178,000 Americans a year Why is it undertreated?

Other states had increases, including Alaska, Oregon and Washington, where drug deaths went up at least 27%. Before the explosion of fentanyl and methamphetamine use, the U.S. suffered far fewer overdose deaths — roughly 53,356 fatalities, for example, in 2015. The rare good news in the decades-old addiction crisis was attributable mostly to a drop in alcohol overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, chiefly fentanyl, said researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics, who compiled the numbers. As blood alcohol concentration (BAC) increases, so does the effect of alcohol—as well as the risk of harm. Even small increases in BAC can decrease motor coordination, make a person feel sick, and cloud judgment.

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Some states, including California and Oregon, have begun rolling back drug policies that were aimed at shifting the addiction response to a public health model and reducing the role of police. Drug deaths in 2023 remained above the 106,699 fatalities recorded by the CDC in 2021. That is a significant reversal from previous years, when street fentanyl and other toxic synthetic drugs including methamphetamines sparked an unprecedented surge in drug deaths. Preliminary data released Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found fatal drug overdoses in the U.S. fell by roughly 3% in 2023. Even as opioid deaths fell, deaths from stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine rose.

• “We’re seeing that rates of alcohol use, which were higher during the pandemic, are coming down,” said Kate B. Nooner, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington who studies prevention and treatment of AUD in children exposed to trauma.
• That is a significant reversal from previous years, when street fentanyl and other toxic synthetic drugs including methamphetamines sparked an unprecedented surge in drug deaths.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

In March I reported on the efforts of the Blackpool-based charity Empowerment to help people come off drugs like heroin. The total number of fentanyl deaths actually declined modestly in 2023, dropping from 76,226 to 74,702. Meanwhile, fatal overdoses from psychostimulants (including methamphetamine) and cocaine, rose from 63,991 to 66,169. The latest CDC data for 2023 shows that while fentanyl and other opioids remain the most deadly threat, other street drugs are becoming more dangerous. Drug overdoses overall in 2023 were estimated at 107,543, down from 111,029 in 2022, a 3 percent drop. Opioid deaths fell 3.7 percent while deaths from cocaine rose 5 percent and deaths from meth rose 2 percent.

United States drug overdose death rates and totals over time

Across the country, fentanyl has largely fueled a more than doubling of overdose deaths among children ages 12 to 17 since the start of the pandemic, according to a Washington Post analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released this month. The study also points to the need to incorporate culturally-informed approaches in prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services, and to dismantle racial and ethnic inequities in access to these services. The majority of fatal overdoses in 2023 were linked to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, according to the CDC data, but deaths linked to these substances were down overall.

Overdose Deaths Dropped in U.S. in 2023 for First Time in Five Years

• Learn how many people ages 12 to 20 engage in underage alcohol misuse in the United States and the impact it has.
• The average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased by 25,244 (26.8%), from 94,362 deaths during 2016–2017 to 119,606 during 2020–2021 (Table 2).
• This misclassification results in underestimation of death rates for these groups by about 3% for Asian and Hispanic people and by about 34% for American Indian and Alaska Native people (8).
• Surveys suggest that more than half the alcohol sold in the U.S. is consumed during binge drinking episodes.

U.S. drug deaths declined slightly in 2023 but remained at crisis levels

• A year later, the number of deaths increased to 3,790, and increased again in 2021 when there were 3,875 alcohol-induced deaths.
• The researchers then used these data to estimate the number of children of the nearly 650,000 people who died of an overdose in 2011 to 2021 based on the national mortality data from the CDC National Vital Statistics System.
• Because of the increases in these deaths during 2020–2021, including among adults in the same age group, excessive alcohol use could account for an even higher proportion of total deaths during that 2-year period.
• To put it another way, increasing the cost of a six-pack of Bud Light by 50 cents — and other drinks by similar levels — would probably save thousands of lives every single year.
• Drug deaths in 2023 remained above the 106,699 fatalities recorded by the CDC in 2021.

• Even as opioid deaths fell, deaths from stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine rose.
• More and more research supports the conclusion that even light drinking — that is, less than 15 drinks a week for men or eight drinks a week for women — can contribute to an increased risk for heart disease and cancers.
• Between 2021 and 2022, rates of drug overdose deaths decreased for people ages 15–34 and increased for adults age 35 and older.
• The percentage of drug overdose deaths that identified the specific drugs involved varied by year, ranging from 75% to 79% from 2002 to 2013, and increasing from 81% in 2014 to 96% in 2022.