CDC: 2022 national overdose deaths hit new record; decline in Michigan

The number people who died of drug overdoses in Michigan declined almost 4% in 2022, according to new provisional data from the federal government. But the nation hit yet another record, with 109,680 people dying from drug overdoses last year.

Nationally, the increase was statistically slight − just 0.5% − compared with last year, suggesting a slowing in the rate of growth in the country's overdose crisis.

Still, that means for the second year in a row, more than 100,000 people − roughly the size of population of Dearborn − died from drug overdoses. In Michigan, 2,993 people died of drug overdoses, according to the estimates released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And experts warned those numbers are unacceptable.

"This can not be our new normal that over 100,000 people a year are dying ever single year of overdose," said Dr. Allison Lin, a University of Michigan psychiatry professor and researcher who studies addiction. "That is not something we can tolerate as a society. This is just a tremendous number of people who are dying every year. We haven’t turned it around ."

Fentanyl, the potent synthetic opioid, is still driving the majority of the overdose deaths. But other drugs are posing threats, including xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is not an opioid and does not respond to naloxone (brand name: Narcan), which can reverse an opioid overdose is giving in time and given correctly.

It's too soon to say that the number of overdose deaths is leveling off, said Stella Resko, a Wayne State University professor who studies substance use. "Hopefully things will get better. We're starting to see a little bit of that in Michigan." But, she added, "We're also cautious about where things will go in the future."

The numbers released Wednesday are provisional estimates for the 12 months ending December 31, 2022, which means they will change slightly. Their value is they provide a snapshot at where the nation is in terms of the drug overdose crisis.

Overdose deaths across the nation skyrocketted 30% in 2020 and 15% in 2021. The last time Michigan overdose deaths decreased was 2019. Then, following national trends, they jumped about 16% in 2020 and 9.3% in 2021.

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Reasons for the decline in Michigan? Experts suggest the ready availability of naloxone (brand name: Narcan), which can reverse an opioid overdose if given corretly and in time is one of the reasons. Michigan enacted a standing order in 2017 that allows naloxone to be sold without a prescription. In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it for over-the-counter sales, which means it can be sold places other than pharmacies, including party stores and gas stations.

"I think Narcan is probably one of the most significant parts of those numbers not increasing," said Steve Norris, harm reduction and recovery director at the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities, a non-profit based in Oakland County that works to prevent and treat substance abuse.

“We really feel like our refforts are making a difference," said Jared Welehodsky, a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services administrator who works with the state's opioid task force. He said the state has upped its distribution of naloxone and that more agencies are providing fentanyl test strips to determine whether street drugs contain fentanyl.

"We certainly hope we will continue to see declining overdose deaths going forward," he said.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Overdose deaths decline in Michigan, hit new record in U.S.