Another record has been reached in the United States: “an estimated 105,752 people died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending October 2021” reports CNN Health. The data was published last week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Two-thirds of the deaths were a result of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. “Fentanyl, even at very, very small quantities, is lethal for most people,” said Katherine Keyes, an associate professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health whose research focuses on psychiatric and substance use epidemiology. “It’s just an incredibly potent opioid.”

The CDC data reveals roughly 15,000 more people died last year, a 16% increase in overdose deaths than in the previous year. CNN reports “data first indicated that  overdose deaths from any drug surpassed 100,000 annually in data through April 2021. This is the seventh month in a row that estimates for the latest 12-month period have stayed above this level.”

“Overdose deaths from methamphetamine and other psychostimulants increased significantly, up nearly 40% from the year before. They accounted for about 30% of all overdose deaths in the latest 12-month period” adds CNN.

Principal research scientist at the University of Washington’s Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute wrote in an email to CNN that “reconceptualizing opioid-use disorder as an urgent health emergency is necessary.”

“Mentally and financially depressed people are at increased risk for harms associated with opioids, so addressing wellness, poverty and housing are essential to health overall, including opioid-use disorder.”