Drug overdose deaths in the US fell in 2018, following decades of steady increases, reports UPI.<br />Between 2017 and 2018, drug overdose deaths dropped by 5.1 percent.<br />Death rates from synthetic opioids increased by more than two-fold between 1999 and 2016.<br />There were an estimated 68,557 drug overdose deaths that occurred in 2018.<br />About 47,590 were from opioid use and 31,897 from fentanyl, tramadol and other synthetic opioids. <br />
