Drug overdose deaths decrease in 2024.

Drug overdose deaths decreased by 26.9 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to provisional data released today from the National Center for Health Statistics including in Ohio. According to the new data, drug overdose deaths in the United States decreased from an estimated 110,037 in 2023 to 80,391 in 2024. Overdose deaths involving opioids decreased from an estimated 83,140 in 2023 to 54,743 in 2024. Overdose deaths involving cocaine and psychostimulants (like methamphetamine) decreased, too (from 30,833 to 22,174 and from 37,096 to 29,456 deaths, respectively). There was a sizable decrease seen in overdose deaths from fentanyl, from 76,282 deaths in 2023 to 48,422 deaths in 2024.