Overdoses Dip; Stimulants Keep Rising

Updated: 2025.10.07 14D ago 2 sources
CDC reports the age‑adjusted U.S. drug overdose death rate fell 4% from 2022 to 2023 (31.3 per 100,000; 105,007 deaths). Rates declined for people 15–54 and for White non‑Hispanic people, but rose for adults 55+ and for Black non‑Hispanic and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander non‑Hispanic groups. Deaths involving synthetic opioids (e.g., fentanyl) decreased, while cocaine and psychostimulant‑involved deaths continued to rise. — This shifts the overdose narrative beyond fentanyl, signaling a need to target rising stimulant harms and address growing demographic disparities in overdose risk.

Sources

Products - Data Briefs - Number 522 - December 2024
2025.10.07 100% relevant
CDC NCHS Data Brief No. 522 (NVSS, 2023): overall rate down 4%, fentanyl‑class deaths down, cocaine and psychostimulant deaths up, with age and race/ethnicity divergences.
Drug Overdose Deaths: Facts and Figures | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
2024.08.21 92% relevant
NIDA reports 105,007 overdose deaths in 2023 (down from 2022), opioid-involved deaths fell to 79,358, and deaths involving cocaine rose to 29,449 and psychostimulants to 34,855, with ~70% of stimulant deaths co‑involving illicit fentanyl—exactly the pattern described.
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