(READ) Stunning increase in deaths among blacks and American Indians from illegal opioids


Overdose death rates increased an astonishing 44% for blacks and 39% for American Indians in 2020.

That’s according to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Opioid death rates from illicitly manufactured fentanyl are at all time highs. This coincides with illegal immigration and drug traffic across the US southern border, where most US fentanyl comes from, reaching all time highs.

The Biden administration has indicated it does not plan to try to stem the illegal tide crossing the border. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the current trend is more in line with America’s values than when the border was more strictly policed under President Trump.

According to CDC, the death rate for white people is also at historic highs, up 24%, though not as high as blacks and American Indians.

Read more from CDC below.

Overdose death rates increased significantly for Black, American Indian/Alaska Native people in 2020

Recent increases in deaths largely driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl

In 2020, overdose death rates (number of drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people) increased 44 percent for Black* people and 39 percent for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people compared with 2019, according to a new CDC Vital Signs report with drug overdose data from 25 states and the District of Columbia. Overdose death rates in other groups, specifically White people, for whom the increase was 24 percent, are also at historic highs. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, disruption in access to prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery support services has likely contributed to this growth in overdose deaths. Recent increases in deaths were largely driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (IMFs).  

Among the key findings for drug overdose deaths:

  • In 2020, the overdose death rate among Black males 65 years and older was nearly seven times that of White males 65 years and older.
  • Black people 15–24 years old experienced the largest rate increase (86 percent) compared with changes seen in other age/race groups during 2019–2020.
  • Overdose death rates for AI/AN women 25–44 years of age were nearly two times that of White women 25–44 years of age.

Additionally the report analyzed drug overdose death rates by treatment access and income inequality, which continue to show concerning trends and widening disparities between different population groups:

  • A history of substance use was common, but a history of receiving substance use treatment was not. Only about 1 in every 10 AI/AN and Hispanic people had reportedly received substance use treatment; evidence of treatment was even lower for Black people (1 in every 12). 
  • Opioid overdose rates in 2020 were higher in areas with higher availability of opioid treatment programs compared with areas with lower treatment availability, particularly among Black (34 vs. 17) and AI/AN (33 vs. 16) people per 100,000. Higher availability of treatment services does not mean improved access to care. The known differences in access, barriers to care, and healthcare mistrust could play a role in exacerbating inequities even when treatment is available in the community.
  • In counties with more income inequality, there were greater disparities in overdose deaths, particularly among Black people, where the rate was more than two times as high in areas with more income inequality versus those with less income inequality.
  • In counties with lowest income inequality, rates were highest among AI/AN people.

“The increase in overdose deaths and widening disparities are alarming,” said CDC Acting Principal Deputy Director Dr. Debra Houry, M.D., M.P.H. “Overdose deaths are preventable, and we must redouble our efforts to make overdose prevention a priority. We will continue to support and work collaboratively with communities like we do with CDC’s Overdose Data to Action (OD2A). Providing tailored tools and resources to combat overdose and address underlying risk factors will ultimately help reduce health disparities and save lives.”

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Drug overdoses are preventable. The growing overdose crisis, particularly among people from racial and ethnic minority groups, requires prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction efforts that are tailored to promote optimal health for all. Public health professionals, healthcare providers, policy makers, and communities can all play a role in preventing overdose deaths.

Three things we can do to prevent overdose deaths:

  1. Increase access and reduce barriers to proven treatment and recovery support services for all people who have substance use disorder(s) and, when appropriate, include culturally tailored practices.
  2. Raise awareness about illegally manufactured fentanyl and polysubstance use (the use of more than one drug) and reduce stigma around treatment, recovery, and harm reduction.
  3. Support harm reduction by expanding the distribution of and education about the life-saving overdose reversal drug, naloxone, expand access to harm reduction services (i.e., distribution of naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and syringe service programs), and expand education about substance use risks in populations that have been disproportionately impacted.

Find Treatment for Substance Use Disorder, including Opioid Use Disorder

If you or someone close to you needs help for a substance use disorder, talk to your doctor or call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP or go to SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services 

Additional Resources:

If you have questions about any medicines, call the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poison Help Hotline at 1-800-222-1222.

988: The New 3-Digit Number Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has transitioned to (988) an easy-to-remember, three-digit dialing code that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States. The Lifeline comprises a national network of over 200 local crisis centers, combining custom local care and resources with national standards and best practices.

*Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and White persons are non-Hispanic; Hispanic persons could be of any race.

For more information about this report, go to www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns.                                                     

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4 thoughts on “(READ) Stunning increase in deaths among blacks and American Indians from illegal opioids”

  1. I’ll probably get flamed for this, but I see this as no big loss…no matter what race they are. I’m sure they are somebody’s relatives, and they will be grieved by somebody. However they made a conscious choice do do drugs known to contain fentanyl. Additionally, I’m sure that the crime rate in the areas that they lived in went down slightly. Illegal drugs, especially opioids have a poison to America’s culture since the 60’s.. Lastly, the biden administration is encouraging massive illegal immigration over our southern boarder where the majority of opioids and fentanyl are know to enter the US; so the root of the problem rests squarely on their shoulders.

    1. Uh yep, you hit all of the nails right on their head!! These are the dregs of society who do not produce as much as they consume, so as cold blooded and heartless as it may seem at first blush, we have a net gain going on there! The same way with alcoholics and smokers and vapers. If they want to remove themselves from society, who am I to stop them?? If we just open up ALL of the floodgates and let them commit chemical suicide, who will really be worse off for it?

  2. After serving as a docent at a Native American museum for a year I can verify that American Indians are just as racist as blacks are, the only difference is that they don’t run around rioting, looting and burning every time an Indian gets killed, ambush and shoot white cops, sucker-punch old white people on the street, do drive-by shootings, push oriental people in front of subway trains and so on and so on and so on.
    What the Indians do avoid white people, snub them in front of other Indians, and generally act all pissy because they never got over being overrun by a vastly more advanced culture. They cling to their ancient traditions and ways at the same time they want the same things all the rest of us do. They just don’t know when to move on.

  3. Wow Sharyl, you sure got some hateful readers. Obviously, they are not Christians but surely, they are haters and don’t live by the Gold Rules. One really sounds like a white supremacist unaware of our US history but that speaks to our poor educational system.
    Maybe they need to watch “Dope Sick” to understand how Oxycontin got thousands hooked on pain killers and those that didn’t die from it but couldn’t get it from the Drug Lords at the Sacker Cartel or their gang cohorts moved to fentanyl and cocaine.

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