Fentanyl drove record number of drug-related deaths in 2020; teens often score the pills on social media

Annual deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide in the United States, 1999-2020
(Chart by Trust for America's Health and Well Being Trust; click on the image to enlarge it.)

So-called deaths of despair—those related to alcohol, drugs, and suicide—hit an all-time high in 2020, claiming the lives of nearly 182,000 Americans, according to the Trust for America's Health and Well Being Trust. The 2020 total is 20 percent more than 2019, and mark the highest number of substance-misuse-related deaths recorded in any year; 2020 was dominated by the pandemic.

"While alcohol, drug, and suicide deaths have been increasing for decades, the 2020 increase was unprecedented and driven by a 30 percent increase in the rate of drug-induced deaths and a 27 percent increase in the rate of alcohol-induced deaths," Rhea Farberman and Amy Shields report for the Trust. "Combined rates of alcohol, drug, and suicide deaths increased in all 50 states except New Hampshire, and for the first time two states – West Virginia and New Mexico – surpassed 100 deaths per 100,000 state residents from alcohol, drugs, and suicide combined in a single year."

Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and psychostimulants drove the increase in substance-misuse deaths. Rates for such deaths increased among all population groups except for people over age 75. People of color, youth aged 17 and under, and people 18-34 years old saw particularly high increases, as well as people who live in the South and West, the report says.

Fentanyl-related deaths have at least doubled in every state in the nation during the pandemic, and the report projects that such deaths will continue to rise. One big problem is that most people who overdose from fentanyl had no intention of taking it. Street drugs are often cut with fentanyl to stretch them further and make dealers more money, but the synthetic opioid is so potent that even adding a tiny bit more to a pill can be lethal. Teens often score fentanyl-laced drugs on social media.

The report calls for a comprehensive nationwide strategy that focuses on prevention, early identification of mitigating factors, harm reduction, and effective treatment.