U.S. drug overdose deaths are on pace to fall to the lowest levels since 2020, according to new provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a hopeful milestone amid efforts to stem the epidemic.
Provisional data had showed a slight decline for 2023, but the numbers released Wednesday showed that decline has continued.
According to the CDC data, there are expected to be less than 97,000 deaths in the 12-month period ending June 30.
Reported drug deaths fell nearly 17 percent during the 12-month period ending in June, to 93,087.
Those numbers are still extremely high, but deaths are expected to drop 14.5 percent compared to the peak of approximately 111,000 estimated during the 12 months ending in June 2023.
Deaths surpassed 100,000 for the first time in 2021.
“It is a real trend, and that’s great,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen said during a conference panel Wednesday. “We are throwing a lot at this. And we’re starting to really break through, I think, with some important things.”
Cohen suggested efforts to increase awareness about fentanyl and use of harm-reduction techniques such as fentanyl test strips were helping to drive deaths downward.
But she warned the agency and federal government need to continue devoting resources to combat overdoses, otherwise the progress will be lost.
“You have to maintain it. You take your eye off this ball, you take your resources away from this, and this can get away from us,” Cohen said.