The rate of overdose deaths among teenagers skyrocketed over the past few years during the COVID-19 pandemic, with researchers reporting the highest exponential increase ever seen.
Teenage overdose deaths nearly doubled in 2020, with the 954 deaths reported during the first year of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This figure increased by 20% during the first half of 2021, compared to the previous 10 years before the pandemic began, according to a study from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The rise in overdose deaths marks a stark contrast with the fall in illicit drug use among teenagers, prompting doctors to believe the cause is an increase in counterfeit medication distribution. In these cases, distributors sell drugs that resemble common prescription medication but are actually cut with fentanyl, a highly addictive drug that can be deadly when combined with other substances.
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“Drug use is becoming more dangerous, not more common,” said Joseph Friedman, an addiction researcher at UCLA. “The increases are almost entirely due to illicit fentanyls, which are increasingly found in counterfeit pills. These counterfeit pills are spreading across the nation, and teens may not realize they are dangerous.”
Counterfeit drug overdoses have become increasingly common, with the Department of Justice seizing more than 9.5 million fake pills in 2021, more than the previous two years combined.
“Accurate information about the risk of drugs needs to be presented in schools,” Friedman said. “Teens need to know that pills and powders are the highest risk for overdose, as they are most likely to contain illicit fentanyls. Pills and powders can be tested for the presence of fentanyls using testing strips, which are becoming more widely available.”
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Overdose deaths have been on the rise for two decades, with an estimated 100,306 people dying of drug overdoses between May 2020 and April 2021, surpassing the number of deaths from car crashes, guns, and pneumonia, according to the CDC.
The epidemic of opioid-related drug overdoses costs the United States $1 trillion every year, a separate report from Congress estimated.
