Share on PinterestA record number of fatal drug overdoses have occurred in the United States in recent years. Matt Gush/Getty Images
- A new CDC report finds that stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamines are laced with opioids, leading to a rise in fatal overdoses.
- Fatal overdoses have reached new heights in recent years thanks to deadly opioids like fentanyl.
- In 2021, nearly 80% of all cocaine-related overdose deaths also involved an opioid.
The number of drug overdose deaths related to cocaine and methamphetamine in the United States has continued to rise over the past decade, according to a new CDC report, but it is the presence of opioids that drives these deaths.
In a report released this week by the CDC, researchers examined drug overdose deaths in the United States between 2011 and 2021.
Over the 10-year study period, deaths from overdoses of more than one substance or overdoses of multiple substances related to cocaine and opioids increased from 0.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2011 to 5.9 per 100,000 deaths in 2021 – a seven-fold increase.
The number of overdose deaths related to psychostimulants (drugs such as methamphetamines and amphetamines) and opioids also increased dramatically from 0.3 in 2011 to 6.7 in 2021 – a 22-fold increase.
In 2021, nearly 80% of all cocaine-related overdose deaths also involved an opioid. Psychostimulant-related overdose deaths also involved opioids in 65.7% of cases.
“This report highlights that rates of cocaine-related drug overdose deaths, as well as psychostimulant-related drug overdose death rates, continue to rise… Specifically, the majority of drug overdose deaths related to these drugs involved an opioid,” Merianne Rose Spencer, a researcher at the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lead author of the report, told HealthyLine.
Over the same period, drug overdose deaths increased for cocaine and psychostimulants not involving opioids.
However, the increases for the individual drugs (without opioid involvement) were relatively modest compared to the explosion in deaths caused by those with opioid involvement. Overdose deaths from cocaine alone have doubled over the past decade, from 0.7 per 100,000 in 2011 to 1.5 per 100,000 in 2021. Meanwhile, deaths from psychostimulant drugs not co-involved with opioids increased sixfold, from 0.5 per 100,000 in 2011 to 3.3 per 100,000 in the year 2021
Interestingly, in the first five years of the study period, psychostimulants alone were initially responsible for more overdose deaths than opioid use. However, by 2017, the number of opioid-related psychostimulant-related deaths exceeded the number of psychostimulant-related deaths alone and has been increasing rapidly since then.
The CDC report also found regional disparities in overdose deaths. Most drug overdose deaths related to cocaine and opioids occurred in the Northeastern United States; 84.5% of all cocaine-related deaths in this region were due to opioids.
The western region had the lowest opioid involvement rate at 73.4%.
Psychostimulant overdose deaths followed an almost identical trend: the highest level of opioid co-involvement was in the Northeast, where 80.6% of overdose deaths were recorded. The West again had the lowest percentage of opioid involvement at 57.5%.
Drug overdose deaths have exploded in the United States in recent years. Opioids, particularly potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl, have been identified as culprits by both healthcare professionals and law enforcement. Of the approximately 107,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2021, 80,411 were found to be related to some type of opioid.
The CDC’s new findings are clearly consistent with this trend.
“This report emphasizes that opioid involvement continues to drive an overall increase in drug overdose deaths in the United States, where cocaine overdoses and drug overdoses such as methamphetamine are often not solely responsible for overdose deaths,” Spencer said.
dr Rais Vohra, medical director at California Poison Control and professor of emergency medicine and clinical pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco, told GesundLine that this study shows how pervasive opioids have become in the illicit drug supply in the United States.
“The [study] adds a new dimension to the extent of the overlap… The lay population and even the general medical community might get the impression that all of these drugs are being consumed in silos, when in fact the reality of street drug use is that nobody really knows what’s in their stash,” he said.
The CDC report does not specifically state whether the use of multiple substances that led to overdose deaths was intentional or accidental. That is, it is not clear whether users were intentionally searching for different drugs to use in combination, or whether the drugs they were using were adulterated with other substances.
For health care workers like Vohra and law enforcement officials, the reason opioids are popping up in other drugs is obvious: Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are being incorporated into other drugs to increase potency and profit.
“Fentanyl has undoubtedly made its way into the drug supply,” Vohra said, “and this study really shows that it’s not just people who think they’re taking opioids. It really is everyone.”
Due to the proliferation of fentanyl and other potent opioids, Vohra urges everyone to become familiar with the life-saving overdose-reversing drug naloxone, also known by its trade name Narcan.
“Hopefully naloxone is a common term,” Vohra said. “At this point, we’re definitely trying to spread it as widely as possible. Educate yourself about naloxone and try to get a little training on it because it will actually equip you with the knowledge and drugs that can save lives.”
Learn how to spot the signs of an opioid overdose here.
A new CDC report finds that many stimulants now also contain fentanyl. This mix of fentanyl and stimulants has been linked to a significant increase in overdose deaths.
