The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that more than 100,000 Americans had died of drug overdoses in a span of 12 months during the pandemic. The grim milestone, announced on Wednesday, covered reports of drug overdoses between April 2020 and April 2021.
The report published by the government agency said that there were more overdose deaths caused by the illegal synthetic opioid fentanyl than deaths recorded from all drugs in 2016. This is the first time the CDC had reported drug-related deaths over a 12-month period reaching six figures.
The number of people killed by the opioid crisis equates to about 275 people per day, a staggering number that experts said could increase if government agencies don't step up their efforts.
Current programs and measures imposed by the government, health care providers, activists, and other organizations have done little to mitigate the number of fatalities over the past few years. The figure reported by the CDC represents a 28.5% increase when compared to the same period in the previous year.
Experts said the increase in drug overdose deaths could be attributed to the financial, social, housing, and mental health deteriorations caused by the pandemic. U.S. President Joe Biden responded to the latest report, stating that as the country continues its fight against COVID-19, the country must not overlook the continued opioid crisis that is affecting families and communities across America.
Biden administration officials said during a news conference Wednesday that the country will be stepping up its harm-reduction strategies, which will include the distribution of overdose treatments such as naloxone.
Biden's nominee as the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Rahul Gupta, acknowledged that the distribution of overdose antidotes throughout the country is uneven. He said that they are now coming up with a model law that would see a more even distribution of the life-saving treatment.
Anne Milgram, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, cited an increase in fentanyl seizures, which she claimed had reached more than 6 tons of the drug in 2021. Milgram claims that the drugs they have confiscated are enough to overdose every American. She also believes that increased methamphetamine usage is a cause.
In the fiscal year 2022, the government is requesting Congress for $11 billion to finance anti-drug initiatives that include prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services. However, little appears to be working at a time when an unprecedented drug crisis is unfolding alongside a once-in-a-century global pandemic.
