In 2021 there were over 76,975 overdose deaths attributed to opioids (CDC) in the United States. Opioid deaths have increased nationwide in recent years the CDC reports that “…increases in synthetic opioid-involved deaths are being driven by increases in fentanyl-involved overdose deaths.” Fentanyl deaths are now on the rise among teens. According to a study conducted by JAMA, adolescent drug rates didn’t change much over the last decade (+ 0.2 percent between 2010 and 2020). Yet, overdose deaths among teens grew exponentially, with the overdose mortality increasing by 94.03% from 2019 to 2020 and then again by 20.05% from 2020 to 2021. The study found that fentanyl use among adolescents was “identified in 77.14% of adolescent overdose deaths.”.
