US drug overdose deaths remain at near record highs, CDC says

(CNN) – Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. remain at near record levels.

According to provisional data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 109,000 people died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending March 2022.

Annual overdose deaths reached record levels during the pandemic.

The latest figure is a 44% jump from two years earlier, when there were about 76,000 deaths reported in the 12-month period ending in March 2020.

Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, were involved in more than two-thirds of the overdose deaths in the year ending in March 2022.

Deaths involving synthetic opioids increased by a whopping 80% over the past two years.

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