[OC] Fentanyl has become the number one cause of overdose deaths in the U.S.
October 4, 2024
[OC] Fentanyl has become the number one cause of overdose deaths in the U.S.
Posted by nytopinion
36 comments
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tools: Svelte, Layercake, D3
This chart accompanied an Opinion guest essay in The New York Times, “How Fentanyl Drove a Tsunami of Death in America,” by Maia Szalavitz, a contributing opinion writer who covers addiction and public policy.
The essay begins: “Last year over 70,000 Americans died from taking drug mixtures that contained fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. The good news is that recent data suggests a decline in overdose deaths, the first significant drop in decades. But this is not a uniform trend across the nation. To understand this disparity, it’s important to examine how we got here.
Today’s crisis is often described as a series of waves. But if you look at the data, it was more like a couple of breakers followed by a tsunami. First, prescription opioid fatalities rose. Then heroin deaths surged. And finally, illicitly manufactured fentanyl overtook all that preceded it.”
You were on something when making this visual. WTH does the order mean? I assumed ranking but the scale and order don’t match
What happened between 2014 and 2017 that caused a doubling of OD deaths?
Hey, it looks like we won the war on heroin.
It was just heroin, right?
We weren’t stupid enough to declare war on ALL the drugs, were we?
Notice how heroin got replaced by it.
jeez, remember when we could all afford cocaine in 2001.
I have no doubt that overdose deaths have increased significantly.
I do wonder how much they were undercounted in the past. If someone died of a drug overdose in the 2000’s, would there be an autopsy and a tox screen that figured out exactly what drug it was for the report?
I have no idea if this is a small or a significant factor.
Is heroin down because fentanyl is up? I know narcan has been effective, but kinda seems like heroin laced fentanyl deaths get chalked up to the fentanyl and not the heroin
Almost 50 every 100k is a wild number. Go to a random stadium show and about 40 of the people there will die of overdose.
I award this as the ugliest graph I’ve seen.
Based on this chart, it’s been the largest source of overdose deaths since 2016 or so
Beautiful data, ugly chart
Not surprised. Americans are brainwashed into thinking that all their problems can be solved by drugs – legal or not. It is one of only a few countries in the world to allow advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
theres more cocaine overdoses leading to death in 2022 than for all other drugs combined in 2006? That’s crazy.
I could have come to that conclusion. Fentanyl cut with benzos, carfentanil a deadly combo for anyone using that shit 💩🛑….
Gov’t be like “Heroin OD at an all time low…”
So heroin is your safest bet?
“He OD’d on heroin? Damn he must have had some money” I wonder if that’s a new sentence or if it has been said before
I don’t like the visualisation of data here, it does not feel intuitive or clear in meaning.
…and yet, somehow, cannabis is still Schedule I…
I see they conveniently left marijuana off of this chart!!!
/s
what the hell is the width of the lines supposed to represent? Makes it hard to read.
36 comments
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Tools: Svelte, Layercake, D3
This chart accompanied an Opinion guest essay in The New York Times, “How Fentanyl Drove a Tsunami of Death in America,” by Maia Szalavitz, a contributing opinion writer who covers addiction and public policy.
The essay begins:
“Last year over 70,000 Americans died from taking drug mixtures that contained fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. The good news is that recent data suggests a decline in overdose deaths, the first significant drop in decades. But this is not a uniform trend across the nation. To understand this disparity, it’s important to examine how we got here.
Today’s crisis is often described as a series of waves. But if you look at the data, it was more like a couple of breakers followed by a tsunami. First, prescription opioid fatalities rose. Then heroin deaths surged. And finally, illicitly manufactured fentanyl overtook all that preceded it.”
The essay includes several other maps and graphics. You can check them out, and read the rest of the essay, even if you don’t have a subscription to The New York Times, for free [with this gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/09/27/opinion/fentanyl-overdose-deaths.html?unlocked_article_code=1.N04.gvEB.AYBQktRKRPTu&smid=re-nytopinion).
Where is cannabis on this? Oh right ..
What’s caused the Fentanyl boom since 2016?
“Psychostimulants” is almost entirely meth
How come people started overdosing on cocaine so much more…interesting
COVID 19 seems to lead to an explosion of ODs. It’s pretty heart breaking.
>has become
I mean according to this, it’s been that way for almost a decade?
Drugs seem to be winning the war on drugs.
20 some people per 100,000 is a lot lower of a number than I was expecting.
But why isn’t the deaths of those who take their medications as prescribed listed in this data set?
Where heroin goes down, fentanyl goes up.
Where is marijuana? It kills entire communities after injecting one joint
Overdoses tripling in only 10 years is pretty insane.
maby uh maby dont make it sutch a funky shape…
[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm)
And going down all of a sudden
You were on something when making this visual. WTH does the order mean? I assumed ranking but the scale and order don’t match
What happened between 2014 and 2017 that caused a doubling of OD deaths?
Hey, it looks like we won the war on heroin.
It was just heroin, right?
We weren’t stupid enough to declare war on ALL the drugs, were we?
Notice how heroin got replaced by it.
jeez, remember when we could all afford cocaine in 2001.
I have no doubt that overdose deaths have increased significantly.
I do wonder how much they were undercounted in the past. If someone died of a drug overdose in the 2000’s, would there be an autopsy and a tox screen that figured out exactly what drug it was for the report?
I have no idea if this is a small or a significant factor.
Is heroin down because fentanyl is up? I know narcan has been effective, but kinda seems like heroin laced fentanyl deaths get chalked up to the fentanyl and not the heroin
Almost 50 every 100k is a wild number. Go to a random stadium show and about 40 of the people there will die of overdose.
I award this as the ugliest graph I’ve seen.
Based on this chart, it’s been the largest source of overdose deaths since 2016 or so
Beautiful data, ugly chart
Not surprised. Americans are brainwashed into thinking that all their problems can be solved by drugs – legal or not. It is one of only a few countries in the world to allow advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
theres more cocaine overdoses leading to death in 2022 than for all other drugs combined in 2006? That’s crazy.
I could have come to that conclusion.
Fentanyl cut with benzos, carfentanil a deadly combo for anyone using that shit 💩🛑….
Gov’t be like “Heroin OD at an all time low…”
So heroin is your safest bet?
“He OD’d on heroin? Damn he must have had some money” I wonder if that’s a new sentence or if it has been said before
I don’t like the visualisation of data here, it does not feel intuitive or clear in meaning.
…and yet, somehow, cannabis is still Schedule I…
I see they conveniently left marijuana off of this chart!!!
/s
what the hell is the width of the lines supposed to represent? Makes it hard to read.