Fatal drug overdoses falling in US, but not in Utah and the West

Public health data shows that overdose deaths have fallen in the U.S. But in Utah, they are still on the rise.

The drop in drug overdose deaths was first reported by NPR on Wednesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compiled national surveys that showed a 10.6% drop in overdose deaths.

“This is the largest decline ever and the fifth consecutive month of recorded declines,” Rahul Gupta, the White House director of National Drug Control Policy, told NPR.

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes a map of both predicted and reported numbers of overdose deaths in each state. The data compares two 12-month periods: one ending in April 2023 and the other in April 2024.

The numbers for each state are preliminary, meaning the shifts may look slightly different when the data is finalized.

The forecast data for Utah shows an 8.08% increase in overdose deaths: 722 deaths for the one-year period ending April 2024, and 668 deaths for the one-year period ending April 2023. The U.S. as a whole is expected to see a 10% decrease in overdose deaths.

Megan Broekemeier, coordinator of drug overdose prevention research for the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, told the Deseret News by email that preliminary data from the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner shows a 16.7% increase in drug overdose deaths from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, compared to April 1, 2022, to March 2023.

Broekemeier said she couldn’t say why this was happening, but that fentanyl overdoses were continuing to increase.

“The trends in Utah have not been consistent with national trends for some time now. We reached a plateau while overdoses were increasing significantly nationally, particularly during the pandemic,” Broekemeier said. “We have not yet seen statistically significant changes in the rate, but it is possible if the increase in fentanyl deaths continues at the current rate.”

Three of the states bordering Utah — Nevada, Wyoming and Colorado — also show projected increases: Nevada at 18.17%, Wyoming at 2.38% and Colorado at 3.89%.

An increase is also expected in Oregon and Washington.

Data from the East tells a different story. The District of Columbia is projected to see a small increase in overdose deaths of less than 1%, but states in the East are showing a decrease.

North Carolina shows a predicted decline of nearly 23% from the annual period ending April 2023 to the annual period ending April 2024. New England – excluding Rhode Island (just under 10%) – shows predicted declines in the teens.

The South is also showing declines. Alabama’s decline is more modest, expected to be around 4%. One Midwest state is showing an expected increase, Iowa at 1.1%.

“Even after these improvements, fatal overdoses in the U.S. remain unacceptably high — about 100,000 drug deaths per year,” said NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann.

The Rise of Fentanyl in Utah

In Utah, one drug was responsible for nearly half of all accidental and undetermined overdose deaths in 2023: fentanyl. Since 2019, fentanyl overdose deaths in the state have increased 437%.

That’s according to a report published by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. The report included a chart of drug overdose death data from the Utah Office of Medical Examiner Database from 2021 to 2023.

Most fatal fentanyl overdoses are caused by illegally produced fentanyl.

“Between 2021 and 2023, 84% of fentanyl overdose deaths involved at least 1 other drug,” the report said. “Methamphetamine was the most common drug, involved in 41.5% of all fentanyl overdose deaths. Other common drugs included gabapentin, alcohol, heroin, and cocaine.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division seized a record amount of fentanyl in late June of this year: nearly 800,000 fentanyl pills. Jonathan Pullen, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division, said in a press release: “This is an unfortunate record to set, especially considering it only took six months to get there. The number of pills coming into Utah is obviously concerning. But it also shows that the DEA and our partner agencies are continuing to disrupt the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels in Mexico.”

In the month of June alone, the division seized 170,000 fentanyl pills, about the same number seized in all of 2023.

U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah said in a press release: “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat facing our nation, and we continue to see an increase in the number of pills seized in fentanyl distribution cases in Utah.”

“One of the fentanyl distribution cases my office prosecuted this year involved the seizure of approximately 200,000 fentanyl pills, worth nearly half a million dollars ($450,000),” Higgins continued. “Given that more than half of those pills likely contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, the danger to our communities is staggering. My office is committed to preventing this poison from spreading in our communities by prosecuting those responsible.”