Is Utah making progress in the fight against opioid-related deaths?
Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, opioid deaths spiked in the United States. But three months into 2025, drug overdose-related deaths have gradually decreased, yet remain the most common death amongst adults ages 18 to 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Recent CDC data reported that between October 2023 and September 2024, the United States saw its lowest death rate in a 12-month timeframe since 2020. During that period, there were 87,000 deaths compared to 114,000 the year before.
'It is unprecedented to see predicted overdose deaths drop by more than 27,000 over a single year,' said Allison Arwady, Director of CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, per the report. 'That's more than 70 lives saved every day,' and is happening because 'we are more rapidly identifying emerging drug threats and supporting public health prevention and response activities in communities across America.'
Utah continues to face a significant drug trafficking threat, as demand indicates the state is a destination for illegal sales. Victims of drug-related deaths in Utah more frequently succumbed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl or methamphetamine mixed with other substances, and less to prescribed medication, which was historically more common, according to the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner.
Fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine, while carfentanil — an opioid used to tranquilize elephants — is 10,000 times more potent. A fatal dose of fentanyl may be as little as 2 milligrams. Similarly, just 0.02 milligrams of carfentanil can end a life. Both are being trafficked for use in the state of Utah.
'The sharp increase in the number of fentanyl-involved deaths outpaces reductions in deaths from prescription opioids,' Dr. Deirdre Amaro, Utah's chief medical examiner said. 'We will likely see an increase in the drug overdose death rate if this trend continues.'
The U.S. saw a slight drop in opioid-related deaths since its yearly peak ending mid-July 2023 at 85,387 deaths, Addiction-Rep shared with the Deseret News via email, highlighting detailed statistics from their national report on America's opioid crisis.
By June 2024, national opioid-related deaths decreased by 16% to 71,484 deaths the following year.
The following opioid statistics regarding the U.S. were also shared:
From June 2023 to June 2024, synthetic opioids like fentanyl remained the most common drug involved in opioid deaths in the state but decreased by 20% year-over-year.
Deaths caused by heroin have seen a 'drastic' decrease, showing a fallen rate in the last five years from 14,743 in 2019 to 3,242 in 2024 — a nearly 80% decline.
Men are the most common victims of drug-related deaths on a state and national level. But, fatality rates have decreased in both men and women by 19% year-over-year.
For Utah specifically, from June 2022 to June 2023, the state experienced 492 opioid-related deaths. By June 2024, the rate increased to 503, 'still, when looking at Utah's rate of deaths per 100k people, the state experienced a modest year-over-year decline of 0.2% (due to the Utah population increasing).'
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