Drug Overdose Deaths Spiked To 88,000 During The Pandemic

Drug deaths spiked dramatically during a period that includes the first six months of the pandemic, up roughly 27% compared with the previous year, said the acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Regina LaBelle, on Thursday. Fentanyl and synthetic opioids are the primary drivers of this increase.

That number, based on provisional data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is sharply higher than the figure reported by the CDC as recently as last December. The data suggests the dangerous upward trend of drug overdose fatalities continues. According to the White House, Americans age 35 to 44 appear most at risk.