Nation

CDC: Over 75,000 overdose deaths estimated by end of 2020

Published

4 years ago

October 16, 2020

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it expects the death toll from drug overdoses to hit 75,500 by the end of 2020, according to alarming preliminary estimates from the public health institute.

Coverage of the opioid crisis has fallen to the wayside this year as the nation and the rest of the world contend with the largest pandemic in a century.

Before the novel coronavirus arrived on the scene, the opioid crisis was already deadly and far-reaching in scope. Most deadly is how the pandemic has exacerbated drug abuse.

Since the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, drug use has shot through the roof—both for opioids and drugs like cannabis. This is mostly because the millions of Americans who have been cooped up in their homes often feeling depressed, anxious, stressed, lonely, and bored—factors that increase a person’s likelihood of using drugs.

However, it is worth noting that “party drug” usage has fallen significantly this year, according to a more internationally focused July survey from The Economist, with “party drugs” here referring to ecstasy, cocaine, and ketamine. Cannabis, however, has seen the biggest uptick in usage, the same study found.

The CDC report published on Wednesday found that, in the first three months of this year, there were 19,416 drug-overdose deaths, a 10% spike from the same period in 2019, which saw 16,682 deaths. Between February and March alone, there was a 10,000-person death increase.

Demographically, the group most impacted was white males who fall between the ages of 25 and 64, which is not a significant change from pre-pandemic trends.

What drives home the true scale of this crisis, however, is that only 13 U.S. states have reported a decrease in overdose deaths this year so far, the report said.

These results are preliminary and more data is expected to be published about 2020, likely sometime after the start of 2021.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

Immigration

BREAKING: Senate votes down both articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in party-line vote

Published

20 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Sara Carter Staff

The Senate voted down two articles of impeachment Wednesday which alleged Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas engaged in the “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” regarding the southern border in his capacity as DHS secretary. The second claimed Mayorkas had breached public trust.

What resulted in a party-line vote, began with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., proposing a point of order declaring the first article unconstitutional, to which the majority of senators agreed following several failed motions by Republicans. The article was deemed unconstitutional by a vote of 51-48, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voting present.

Fox News reports:

Schumer’s point of order was proposed after his request for unanimous consent, which would have provided a set amount of time for debate among the senators, as well as votes on two GOP resolutions and a set amount of agreed upon points of order, was objected to by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

Schmitt stated in his objection that the Senate should conduct a full trial into the impeachment articles against Mayorkas, rather than the debate and points of order suggested by Schumer’s unanimous consent request, which would be followed by a likely successful motion to dismiss the articles.

Republican senators took issue with Schumer’s point of order, as agreeing to it would effectively kill the first of the two articles. Several GOP lawmakers proposed motions, which took precedence over the point of order, to adjourn or table the point, among other things. But all GOP motions failed.

After another batch of motions to avoid voting on Schumer’s second point of order, which would deem the second article unconstitutional, the Senate agreed to it. The vote was along party lines 51-49, with Murkowski rejoining the Republicans.