Improving fatal overdose numbers

According to data reported by the US Centers for Disease Control, drug overdose deaths decreased in the period between July 2023 and July 2024 consistently around the country, with reported deaths down by nearly 20% during that period. This has led to much exploration about the factors leading to this welcome change, and even some expressing the temptation to declare victory over the opiate epidemic. It is worth noting however that the number of drug overdose deaths in 2024 will still likely be higher than the overdose rate in 2020 and prior years. So the "reduction" we see in 2024 numbers in fact only signals the potential end of the upturn in national drug overdose rates that started in January 2020. There were still over 100,000 fatal drug overdoses reported in the US in 2024, with the highest numbers coming from California, Florida and Texas.

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