Fatal drug overdoses from smoking substances, rather than injection, have increased dramatically in the United States, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found.
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According to a report published on Thursday, drug deaths caused by injection-related overdoses, which were once the most frequently reported cause of drug-related fatalities in the country, have seen a significant decline.
The report reveals that the rate of injection-related overdoses fell by 29.1 per cent between 2020 and 2022, dropping from 22.7 per cent to 16.1 per cent.
This is an encouraging and positive development that indicates that efforts to prevent and treat drug-related harm are having a tangible impact.
Meanwhile, the percentage of overdose deaths with evidence of smoking increased by 73.7 per cent during the same timeframe, rising from 13.3 per cent to 23.1 per cent.
Researchers gathered information about routes of overdose deaths from witness reports, scene investigations and autopsy data, which was then categorized as either injection, smoking, snorting or ingesting.
The report presents a comparison between the routes of drug-related deaths that occurred in the first half of 2020, precisely from January to June, and the second half of 2022, specifically from July to December.
The analysis is based on data that sheds light on the various channels that are being used to distribute illegal drugs, and how these channels may have evolved.
In two years, smoking had become the most common route of drug overdose in the U.S.
According to the report, more than 109,000 people died from drug overdose in the U.S. in 2022. Nearly 70 per cent of those deaths involved illegally manufactured fentanyls.
