The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report noting overdose deaths increased 14% in 2021, for a total of 106,699 deaths. Fentanyl-related overdoses increased 22% while heroin overdoses dropped 32%. Those between the ages of 35-44 comprised the majority of deaths, although fatal overdoses for those over the age of 65 increased by 28% in 2021.
From The Daily Wire:
About 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl were seized this year by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the agency announced earlier this week. Much of the fentanyl flows over the U.S.-Mexico border, although some fentanyl as well as the materials to make fentanyl come into the U.S. from China. ... Some states have been hit particularly hard by the drug overdose crisis, in particular the seemingly uncontrollable amounts of fentanyl flooding across state lines. In Montana, law enforcement seized 58 times more fentanyl in the first six months of this year than they seized in all of 2019, at least 112,000 fentanyl doses. In drug addiction hotspots like San Francisco, crime and homelessness have followed close behind the city’s drug problem for years.
