SAFE GC Coalition: CDC Says Drug Overdose Deaths Plummeted in 2024

A recent article in the New York Times discusses the progress in reducing overdose deaths is tremendously positive albeit untimely as the good news comes as the Trump administration is proposing to cut funding for many programs believed to have contributed to the improvement.

Overdose deaths in the United States fell by nearly 30,000 last year, the government reported on Wednesday, the strongest sign yet that the country is making progress against one of its deadliest, most intractable public health crises. Deaths declined in all major categories of drug use, stimulants as well as opioids, dropping in every state but two. Nationwide, drug fatalities plunged nearly 27 percent.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the data is the latest in a series of reports over the last year that provides hints that the drug-related death toll that has destroyed families and communities could be starting to ease. Addiction specialists said that changes in the illicit drug supply as well as greater access to drug treatment and the use of naloxone to reverse overdoses seemed to be playing a role, but whether the country could sustain that progress was an open question.

Researchers are concerned about being able to sustain these positive in roads in the face of budget cuts and despite the progress, drug fatalities remain high. According to the data, 80,391 people died from drug-related causes in 2024. That was the lowest tally since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic isolated drug users and shut down treatment facilities, sending overdose fatalities skyrocketing. The CDC’s statement said the improved numbers showed that public health interventions were “making a difference and having a meaningful impact.” Still, it noted that overdose remained the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 44.

According to the preliminary budget circulated among federal agencies, the CDC’s opioid surveillance programs may be cut by $30 million and folded into a new subdivision, the Administration for Healthy America. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the federal agency that coordinates and monitors grants for support programs, and provides training and data analysis, is facing a cut of over a billion dollars, and will also be folded into the new subdivision. According to the agency’s most recent survey about substance use, in 2023, 27.2 million Americans ages 12 or older had a drug use disorder, 28.9 million had alcohol use disorder and 7.5 million had both.

The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is conducting an opioid prevention awareness campaign entitled. “Keeping Glen Cove SAFE,” to educate and update the community regarding opioid use and its consequences. To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition or visit SAFE’s website to learn more about the Opioid Epidemic at www.safeglencove.org.