US sees 110,000 overdose deaths in 2022

Nearly 110,000 people died from drug overdoses last year in the United States, as experts suggest drug use was worsened by the stress, anxiety and worry of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 109,680 deaths were caused by drug overdoses in 2022. It was 2 percent higher than the 107,622 overdose deaths in 2021.

Data also show that the largest number of drug overdoses in 2022 were due to fentanyl and synthetic opioids. Fentanyl is involved in more deaths of US people under age 50 than suicide, homicide or cancer, the Drug Enforcement Administration said.

Karen Cassiday, a clinical psychologist, managing director of the Anxiety Treatment Center of Greater Chicago and past president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, told China Daily: "The pandemic had several unique characteristics that lent themselves to triggering anxiety, depression, substance abuse and eating disorders."

Texas and Washington states both saw the biggest increases in drug-related deaths in 2022, with approximately 500 more deaths per state.

Several other states including Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia had increases of 100 or more deaths due to the misuse of drugs. Deaths from drugs have been high for the past few years.

Since the 1990s, the US has been battling against the misuse of opioid prescriptions, which became rampant, and later led to widespread heroin use. By 2015, the number of overdoses due to heroin peaked. By 2016, fentanyl was one of the most abused drugs.

Over the past several years, a growing number of drug overdose deaths have been attributed to illicit fentanyl, a highly addictive drug. Deaths from fentanyl climbed even higher amid the stress brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, research shows.

On May 25, the US House of Representatives passed the Republican-led legislation "Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act". It aims to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as schedule 1 drugs, enabling tougher penalties like prison sentences for fentanyl abuse.

The bill has the support of the president. But critics say it hearkens back to the failed 1980s policy of the "war on drugs".

Agencies contributed to this report.