drug overdoses

The pipeline of deadly fentanyl into the U.S. may be drying up, experts say

5:00am October 01, 2024

Street fentanyl has long been viewed as unstoppable. Now many experts say the supply of the deadly synthetic opioid is suddenly drying up in many parts of the U.S. and fatal overdoses are dropping.

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Fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills are flooding U.S. streets, but other street drugs, including methamphetamine and cocaine, are killing more and more people.

U.S. drug deaths declined slightly in 2023 but remained at crisis levels

1:27pm May 15, 2024

by Brian Mann

Powerful synthetic opioids and drugs like meth and cocaine still flood U.S. communities, fueling historically high overdose deaths.

People in the U.S. were living longer in 2022 according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. life expectancy rebounded in 2022 but COVID and drug overdoses were still deadly

6:00am March 21, 2024

by Brian Mann

As the COVID pandemic faded in 2022, U.S. life expectancy rose by more than a year. But the virus and drug overdoses spurred by fentanyl still took nearly 300,000 lives.

Drug busts like this one in Indianapolis in 2019 have been a standard strategy for law enforcement targeting dealers for decades. Research suggests the raids may be doing more harm than good.

Politicians want cop crackdowns on drug dealers. Experts say tough tactics cost lives

2:14am July 06, 2023

by Brian Mann

As fentanyl deaths surge, lawmakers want more drug busts and arrests. But new research found tough police tactics might increase overdoses and drug deaths in communities.

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Marianne Sinisi, of Altoona, Pennsylvania, lost her 26-year-old son, Shawn, to an opioid overdose in 2018. She wants the opioid settlement dollars to be spent in ways that help spare other parents similar grief.

As states start to get opioid settlement cash, few are sharing how they spend it

5:01am March 30, 2023

by Aneri Pattani

All told, drugmakers and distributors will pay over $50 billion to communities harmed by opioids. An investigation finds that only a dozen states are letting the public see how they use the money.

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration badge. The DEA issued an alert warning of a "sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine" on Monday.

What to know about xylazine, the drug authorities are calling a public safety threat

1:01pm March 21, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

The veterinary tranquilizer has been linked to a growing number of overdose deaths across the country, especially in the Northeast. It's often combined with fentanyl, but can't be treated with Narcan.

More than 91,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses in 2020. There were sharp increases among certain racial groups, a new report finds.

Health & Safety

U.S. death toll from drug overdoses is rising fast among Black and Indigenous people

5:00am July 20, 2022

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Drug overdoses are killing more people than ever in the U.S., and a new CDC report finds growing racial disparities among those who have died — with the largest increase among Black Americans.

A man uses a safe injection site in New York City in January. A bill in California would allow pilot sites in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles.

California debates opening supervised sites for people to use drugs

5:01am May 23, 2022

by Lesley McClurg

Advocates of the proposal say it would prevent overdoses, slow the spread of HIV and inspire drug users to seek help, while proponents say safe injection sites would create an "open drug scene."

Containers of pills and prescription drugs are boxed for disposal during the Drug Enforcement Administration's 20th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 24, 2021. Nearly 108,000 people died in 2021 from drug overdoses.

Overdose deaths continued to rise in 2021, reaching historic highs

3:36pm May 11, 2022

by Rhitu Chatterjee

New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that synthetic opioid use is driving the overdose crisis in the U.S.

A drug overdose rescue kit is pictured in Buffalo, N.Y. The Biden administration plans to increase access to clean needles, fentanyl test strips and naloxone to combat drug overdose deaths.

Drug overdose deaths are at a record high. Here's what the White House plans to do

1:23pm April 21, 2022

by Martha Bebinger

Harm reduction is one of four policies the Biden administration says must be immediately implemented in order to address the record high number of overdose deaths.