"About 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year - about 14% fewer than the previous year, according to preliminary government data. It was the third straight annual drop, making it the longest decline in decades, according to federal data released Wednesday. The 2025 total is about the same as the tally in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic."
"Declines were seen across a number of drug types, including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. Overdose deaths fell in the vast majority of states, although seven saw at least slight increases, including jumps of 10% or more in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, the preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed."
""I'm cautiously optimistic that this represents really a fundamental change in the arc of the overdose crisis," said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University researcher who studies overdose trends. But the number of Americans dying from overdoses is still high, and deaths declined at a slower pace last year."
""If deaths are going down rapidly, that means they can increase just as rapidly if we take our foot off the gas," Marshall said. Overdoses rose during the height of the pandemic U.S. overdose deaths were generally rising for decades, but they shot up dramatically during the pandemic, peaking at nearly 110,000 in 2022."
About 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2025, about 14% fewer than the previous year, based on preliminary federal data. The decline marked the third consecutive annual drop and the longest decline in decades, with the 2025 total roughly matching 2019 levels before the COVID-19 pandemic. Decreases occurred across multiple drug types, including fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, and overdose deaths fell in most states. Seven states saw slight increases, including increases of 10% or more in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. During the pandemic, overdose deaths rose sharply, peaking near 110,000 in 2022, and later declined as factors such as naloxone availability, expanded addiction treatment, changes in drug use, and opioid settlement funding increased.
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