US Overdose Deaths Exceeded <br />100,000 in a Single Year, Data Reveals.<br />The data represents the first time overdose deaths in the U.S. have exceeded such a number.<br />The data was compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and represents the span between <br />May 2020 through April 2021.<br />The number is on par with deaths <br />due to diabetes.<br />It’s a magnitude of overdose death that we haven’t seen in this country, Katherine Keyes, Columbia University Drug Abuse Issues Expert, via Associated Press.<br />Experts say that the rise of fentanyl and opportunities for isolation during pandemic lockdowns have greatly contributed to the overdose deaths.<br />Fentanyl overdoses surpassed those caused by heroin five years ago. .<br />Fentanyl is now often mixed with cocaine and meth, leading to rises in overdose deaths due to those drugs, as well. .<br />While such deaths have been on the rise for the past 20 years.<br />they have increased by 30 percent in the past two years alone.<br />This is unacceptable <br />and it requires an <br />unprecedented response, Dr. Rahul Gupta, National Drug Control Policy, <br />via Associated Press.<br />President Biden referred to the data as a "tragic milestone," and urged Congress to allocate more funding to address issues surrounding drug addiction.<br />Law enforcement and academic experts have expressed pessimism about the future.<br />2021 is going to be terrible, Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, UC San Francisco, <br />via Associated Press.<br />I honestly don't see it getting better, not soon, Lt. Jeff Wersal, Regional Drug Task Force, <br />via Associated Press
