Arkansas overdose deaths dropped 26% in 2024
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Drug overdose deaths in Arkansas last year dropped to 388, down from 538 in 2023, according to preliminary CDC data.
- Nationwide, they dropped to their lowest annual level since 2019 — falling nearly 27% from an estimated 110,037 in 2023.
Why it matters: Fatal overdoses initially rose during the COVID pandemic, but have been falling for the last two years.
- The drop in overdose deaths is partly due to the wider availability of naloxone which reverses an opioid overdose, per CBS News.
- Narcan, the best-known version of the drug, was made available over the counter in 2023. It is standard issue for first responders and available in other public places.
By the numbers: Overdose deaths involving opioids declined nationally from an estimated 83,140 in 2023 to 54,743 in 2024, per provisional CDC National Center for Health Statistics.
- Overdose deaths involving cocaine and psychostimulants (like methamphetamine) decreased too.
Between the lines: Other factors contributing to the decline could include increased availability of paper test strips that detect fentanyl in illicit or counterfeit drugs. These can reduce fatal overdoses when people take fentanyl-laced pills that look like prescription drugs.
- There are also more opioid treatment programs or providers of buprenorphine, a treatment that reduces the risk of future overdoses. These still don't reach many areas most in need.
Zoom in: In 2023, Arkansas Children's Hospital announced a $70 million National Center for Opioid Research and Clinical Effectiveness to be established in Little Rock.
- Researchers will look at how to better treat opioid addiction in newborns.
- State Attorney General Tim Griffin awarded Arkansas Children's $50 million from opioid settlement money to help pay for the center. The hospital will cover the rest.
What to watch: Experts warn a Trump administration budget proposal that would cut health services threatens this decline.
- A group of medical doctors and academic experts on addiction warned lawmakers in a letter this week that "drastic" cuts to federal health agencies and their grant recipients could set back efforts to address overdoses, substance use disorder and mental health.
- Experts are particularly concerned that budget cuts could hit addiction recovery programs in rural areas and impoverished urban neighborhoods, NPR reported. There's also concern about efforts to track new synthetic street drugs being sold in communities.