Overdose deaths spiked among Black, Indigenous people during pandemic
Tablets believed to be laced with fentanyl are displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration Northeast Regional Laboratory on October 8, 2019 in New York. – According to US government data, about 32,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2018. That accounts for 46 percent of all fatal overdoses. Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for a range of conditions, has been central to the American opioid crisis which began in the late 1990s. (Photo by Don EMMERT / AFP) (Photo by DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — Drug overdose deaths increased 30% in the United States from 2019 to 2020, underscoring growing racial disparities impacting Black and Indigenous people.
Overdose death rates increased by 44% among Black people and 25% among Indigenous people in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020. That’s according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released this week, which noted that overdose deaths increased in step with county-level income inequality.
“Rates were more pronounced among Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native persons than among White persons, likely associated with long-standing inequities in access to mental health and substance use care, including medications for opioid use disorder,” the report stated.
There’s a chance that you haven’t heard about this story. No right-leaning outlets have reported on the topic, according to NewsNation partner Ground News’ Blindspot report. Forty-three percent of outlets that reported on the issue were left-leaning and the other 57% were outlets aligned in the center of the political spectrum.
The CDC reports there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. last year, a 15% increase from 2020.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and disruption in access to prevention, treatment, and harm reduction services have likely contributed to this increase,” the report stated.
Illegally manufactured fentanyl and similar substances primarily fueled the increase. Deaths involving stimulants, such as cocaine and methamphetamine also rose, and often in conjunction with opioids, according to the CDC.
Drug use alone doesn’t explain the racial disparities in overdose deaths. Unequal access to treatment and other socioeconomic inequalities or social health factors contribute to the problem, according to the report.
“Higher drug use has been reported in areas with more economic distress, which increases the risk for fatal overdose. Further, impacts of income inequality (e.g., housing instability, transportation access, and insurance status), long-standing mistrust in the health care system, stigma, and bias contribute to treatment access barriers.”
This story is part of NewsNation’s new “Blindspot” initiative in partnership with Ground News to provide readers with contextual, unbiased news they may not find covered by every media outlet.
