Drug Overdoses Contribute to 2021 Being Deadliest Year in US History

APR 13 2022·Updated JAN 23 2023

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Image credit: AP [via Stat News]

The Facts

The CDC has updated its provisional death tally in America for 2021 to 3.465M, up 80K from 2020's record.
Snopes
Provisional data through Oct. shows an increase in drug overdose deaths from 93K in 2020 to 105K in 2021. The number of teenagers dying from overdoses saw a spike of 20% after having doubled from 2019-2020. Most of these overdoses involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Democracy Now
This news comes despite teenage drug usage falling to 18.7%, down from an average of approximately 30% from 2010-2020.
USA Today
Overdoses weren't the only contributors to the overall increase in deaths. Despite the availability of vaccines and other mitigation tools, COVID fatalities rose to over 415K from 351K the year before. The death rate for cancer, diabetes, chronic liver disease and stroke also increased.
Snopes

Sources Split

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The Spin

Left narrative

The US is experiencing a public health crisis. More education is needed to protect people, especially the young and vulnerable communities of color, from opioids like Fentanyl.

NBC

Right narrative

Fentanyl is flooding the US through our porous southern border. Fentanyl seizures by US Customs and Border Protection have soared in recent years – security must be tightened.