CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — For the first time since 2018, the United States has seen a decrease in drug overdose deaths. The Center for Disease Control officials saw a nearly 15 percent drop in deaths from June 2023 through June 2024.
“There are 14,063 fewer deaths in the United States of America. 14,063. And a decline like this is not just a statistic, it is not just a number. It’s lives that have been saved. It is parents that do not have to bury their children,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
On Friday, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration hosted the third annual national family summit on fentanyl. For the third straight year, families impacted by fentanyl drug poisoning or overdose came together in DC to work on ways to help the DEA combat the fentanyl crisis.
Officials say for the first time since 2021, the department has seen a decrease in the potency of fentanyl pills.
“We test every single pill that we possibly can to understand what’s in it, how is it made, and how we can better understand how the cartels are operating. We also test it to understand how much fentanyl is in that pill. A year ago when our chemists were testing those pills, for every ten pills they tested seven out of those ten were deadly. It contained two milligrams or more of fentanyl. That is a deadly dose,” Milgram said.
North Carolina had a 44 percent decrease in reported fentanyl drug overdoses and poisonings. South Carolina had a 24 percent decrease.
On Friday, the Chester County “Coaches vs Overdoses” program joined the Chester High football team to shine a spotlight on resources needed to help stop substance misuse and fentanyl.
“The conversations you are having are powerful and they’re conversations that are being repeated over and over across the United States, and we are starting to see a cultural shift. We are just starting to see a cultural shift,” Milgram said.
