Friend,

After many years, overdose deaths are finally going down because of public health solutions. The CDC shows overdose deaths in the United States fell 17% between July 2023 and July 2024. Turns out, health and harm reduction approaches play a big role. While this is a step in the right direction, we are still in an overdose crisis. More than 93,000 people in the U.S. have died from overdose between June 2023 and 2024. 

Read my Q&A with Dr. Sheila Vakharia, DPA’s deputy director of Research and Academic Engagement, who explains why overdose deaths are going down. She has spent the last few weeks researching and speaking with other experts to learn what’s happening.  

We discuss why health and harm reduction tools— like the opioid reversal drug naloxone, and fentanyl test strips—have kept tens of thousands of people alive, in addition to other trends. This includes fewer people using fentanyl. 

We also examine how criminalization has led to more potent, dangerous drugs. We look at the data that shows overdose deaths went down before China criminalized some fentanyl precursors in 2024. (Now that they are being threatened with tariffs, it is unlikely they will enforce these laws.)

Fentanyl seizures at U.S. borders were up in 2023 and then went down in 2024. Yet, despite the drop in seizures in 2024, overdose deaths were declining. Border seizures and overdose deaths don’t have a clear relationship. 

And people are still dying—there are likely to still be nearly 100,000 overdose deaths in 2024. It is not time to slow down our efforts. While we are still trying to understand the reasons why overdose deaths went down, it’s becoming clearer that health and harm reduction interventions have played a pivotal role. 

Don’t forget to read the full Q&A on why overdose deaths are going down. 

Our elected leaders must go all in on a public health response that keeps our communities safe and provides better access to health, harm reduction, and treatment services.