Overdose deaths fall nationwide — but rise in Colorado
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The number of people dying from drug overdoses in Colorado is grimly outpacing the national rate, according to preliminary CDC data.
The big picture: The rate grew by 4% in Colorado during that span, one of seven Western states that's not following the national trend.
Fatal drug overdoses continue to decline nationally after falling last year for the first time since before the pandemic, with CDC data showing a 10% decline between April 2023 and April 2024.
- CDC data looks at rolling totals over 12-month periods.
Why it matters: The data suggests measures like providing clean needles aren't sufficiently managing what Colorado harm-reduction advocates call an unregulated drug supply.
Zoom in: State data shows Denver accounts for nearly a fifth of all drug-related deaths in Colorado between 2020 and 2022.
Between the lines: Opioids are taking a devastating toll, with 598 people in Denver dying from overdoses linked to the substance last year — a 22% spike from 2022.
Zoom out: Nationwide, public health experts are stunned by how dramatically deaths are falling, NPR reports.
- "This is going to be the best year we've had since all of this started," Keith Humphreys, a drug policy researcher at Stanford, told NPR.
Between the lines: We need more data and research to determine what's driving the decline in deaths, but experts have theories.
- Naloxone is more widely available, and more drug users carry the medication with them for safety.
- Many of the pandemic-era circumstances — like social isolation, increased stress and people using drugs alone — are no longer factors.