By Aaron Miller-
New data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests an increase in overdoses in America just before and after the pandemic
The data revealed to The Eye Of Media.Com, found that more than 81,000 people died of an overdose in the 12-month period that ended this May. The statistics is the largest number ever recorded in U.S history, representing an 18.2 percent year-over-year increase in overdose deaths.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
Constant reporting of numerous deaths linked to Covid-19, alongside the periodic lockdowns and uncertainties has sparked increased drug use by drug users in many states of America, tipping many over the edge. The pandemic has reshaped the general way of life for Americans and most nations of the world, forcing an adjustment that has been difficult for addicts.
“We’ve been seeing a steady increase,” Deb Houry, director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, said, as he explained the various factors that have led to an increase in deaths. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl and carfentanyl accounted for the majority of overdoses, Houry says. These potent substances are being mixed with a wide variety of other drugs.
Stress
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
Addicts have been overdosing a lot more due to the stress of lockdowns and social distancing associated with the pandemic. Addicts are often more presumptuous than careful or logical, indulging ever more in drugs, contaminated with fentanyl or other synthetic opioids don’t realize what they’re taking.
“I think we need to broaden that to realize that cocaine and other stimulants and psychoactive drugs can be contaminated with illicit fentanyl,” Houry added.
Deaths arising from cocaine increased by 26.5 percent from the 2018-2019 year, mainly die to the co-use of cocaine and synthetic opioids, according to the CDC data Amphetamines and other psychostimulant overdoses are also on the rise.
The early months of the pandemic (March to May 2020) saw the greatest increase in overdose deaths. “Early in the pandemic, there was disruption to treatment services,” says Houry. “We’re also hearing about disruptions to the drug market.”
Drug Market
The volatility of the drug market has led to many who drug users getting their drugs from new sources, especially in the early days of the pandemic—interruption to services are all likely contributors to the uptake in overdose deaths.
This spike has likely hit one key population very hard, Faust and his co- authors identified in a recent study: adults between 25 and 44 years old. The leading cause of death in this age group for the past several years is unintentional drug overdoses.
Between March 1 and July 31 this year, close to 12,000 more people between the age group of 25 and 44 age died than the number of deaths anticipated for the cohort (just over 64,000). A little less than half of that 12,000 can be accounted for by known COVID-19 deaths, although the researchers note that COVID-19 may have been the cause of some of the other deaths, even if not identified.
These statistics all point to the continuing importance of addressing the opioid epidemic, both Houry and Faust note—especially now.
Reducing harm is a key piece of this puzzle, which means making sure that people who use drugs have access to health and social services, says Tara Marie Watson, a drug policy researcher at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
In neighbouring Canada, as in the United States, Watson says, the COVID-19 pandemic “has only added to the ongoing public health crisis that is the opioid overdose crisis.”
It’s key that during this time, health support systems for addiction and drug use remain in place, she says. “It’s important that people are not shut out from having these kinds of services and supports, especially during lockdown.”
With the pandemic far from over, with Christmas looking more bleak than ever for many ordinary Americans, let alone drug addicts, the numbers are set to rise even further.
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar