In 2021, drug overdoses in the United States were reported to be more deadly than ever preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 108,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2021, and about two-thirds of those deaths were related to fentanyl or another synthetic opioid.

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Mortality from overdose in the U.S. has been rising for years, but has risen sharply amid the COVID-19 pandemic: annual deaths were nearly 50% higher in 2021 than in 2019, CDC data show.

The surge in overdose mortality in the second year of the pandemic was not as dramatic as in the first year: overdose mortality rose by about 15% between 2020 and 2021 compared to a 30% jump between 2019 and 2020.

But the changes are still serious. According to the CDC, in 2021 about 14,000 more people died from overdoses than in 2020.

“This is indeed a continuation of a terrible trend. Overdose deaths have been rising for decades, rising at an unprecedented rate just before the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States,” said Dr. Nora Volkov, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The pandemic has accelerated trends that were already going in the wrong direction, and experts say the reverse course will require focused efforts – and it will take time, both strategically and ideologically.

In February, Catherine Keys, an associate professor at Columbia University School of Public Health at Mailman, whose study focuses on psychiatric epidemiology and drug use, told CNN that easing restrictions on COVID-19 would not mean immediate change.

“You won’t see a reversal in the same way you saw acceleration because these drug distribution networks and addictions are taking root in the community. And it’s not like they shut down overnight, “Keys said.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Keys was part of a research group that simulated the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug overdoses. They found that even if the pandemic did end at night, the effects of the drug overdose would persist for at least a year.

Drug treatment was lacking even before the pandemic. In 2019, more than 20 million people aged 12 and older reported suffering from drug addiction, with only 10% of them reporting receiving benefits, according to report from the Office of Addiction and Mental Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

And a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides evidence that access and use of these services deteriorated further during the pandemic.

The last two decades have seen a “big shift” in the supply of illicit drugs to the United States, Volkov said.

“Previously, prescription drug abuse and heroin use were the leading causes of death from overdose. However, when fentanyl and other synthetic opioids began to penetrate the drug market a few years ago, we began to see the proliferation of profitable, light and incredibly dangerous drugs increase. and vulnerability to death from drug overdoses. ”

The increasing use of synthetic drugs has attracted the attention of experts before COVID-19 hit, but the pandemic may have exacerbated the problem. Due to limited international travel, synthetic products that are easier to manufacture and more concentrated were likely to be more effective for smuggling across borders, Volkov said.

According to new CDC data, the number of deaths from overdoses of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, psychostimulants such as methamphetamine and cocaine increased between 2020 and 2021. Deaths from natural or semi-synthetic drugs, such as prescription drugs, have declined slightly from a year earlier.

“This is a devastating milestone in the history of the overdose epidemic in America. When we report figures, we must remember that each figure represents an individual, their family and their community,” Volkov said. “Complicating this tragedy, we have made insufficient use of facts-based treatments that could have already worked that could help many people. We need to meet with people where they are to prevent overdoses, reduce harm and connect people to proven treatments to reduce drug use. ”