Preliminary data released by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that U.S. drug overdose deaths have fallen for the first time in 20 years. The statistics were released by the organization on Wednesday and they show that overdoses fell 5.1% in 2018, the first drop since 1999. There were an estimated 68,557 deaths from overdoses in the country last year compared to a preliminary figure of 72,224 in 2017.
Out of all drug categories, semi-synthetic opioids (painkillers like morphine) experienced the most notable decline, with deaths falling 14.5%. The bad news is that deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl still increased.
