Drug overdose deaths in the US surged by nearly 30 percent over the previous year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An estimated 100,306 people died nationwide from overdoses during a 12-month period ending in April — a 28.5 percent spike from 78,056 tallied in the same span a year earlier.
Just four states — New Jersey, Delaware, New Hampshire and South Dakota — saw drug overdoses decrease, while Vermont had a nearly 70 percent rise, leading the country in the grave statistic. West Virginia and Kentucky had the next-highest increases at 62 and 54.5 percent, respectively, while New York saw a 20.4 percent hike.
“Today, new data reveal that our nation has reached a tragic milestone: more than 100,000 lives were lost to the overdose epidemic from April of last year to April of this year,” President Biden said in a statement. “As we continue to make strides to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot overlook this epidemic of loss, which has touched families and communities across the country.”
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