Drug Overdose Deaths Rose More Among Black and Indigenous Americans During COVID-19 Pandemic

As COVID-19 consumed the U.S. in 2020, another health crisis was also raging: the drug overdose epidemic. Nearly 92,000 people died from drug overdoses that year, a 30% increase from 2019.  While overdose deaths rose across the population, the increase in deaths was far steeper among Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native people, according to data published July 19 in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Overdose deaths rose 44% among Black people from 2019 to 2020, and 39% among American Indian and Alaska Native persons, according to the CDC’s analysis of data from 25 states and the District of Columbia. For white Americans, they rose 22%.