SPRINGDALE, Ark. — According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of fatal overdoses in the U.S. dropped 3% in 2023 from 111,000 in 2022 to 107,500.
Last year was only the second annual decline in overdose deaths since the epidemic of drug deaths in the U.S. began more than three decades ago, according to the Associated Press.
Carl Norris, the CEO of Harbor House, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Fort Smith, says that the drop might be attributed to Narcan, which was approved for over-the-counter use in 2023.
"A nasal spray that really works miracles," Norris said. "Someone who is overdosing or high, Narcan will immediately break the receptors in our body that the opioid attaches to. And so, someone becomes sober immediately."
Norris believes there's not necessarily a decline in illegal drugs, just a decline in overdose deaths, because of Narcan being available.
"But the other side of that is, is addicts are carrying it, so that their friend who is using with them can save their life if they overdose" Norris said. "We're saving more people temporarily. But just because someone becomes instantly sober from the use of Narcan doesn't mean they live a clean life after that. Most always, they just returned back to their habit."
"Drug addiction and drug overdose, it just continues to rise," Norris added. "More affordable and more readily available than they've ever been, which means people who might not get involved with drugs now have a free avenue to afford them."
Brittany Kelly, the Director and Founder of Northwest Arkansas Harm Reduction, says that further education needs to be done with Narcan.
"There is further education that needs done with the Narcan. And people are using it as a preventative measure, it is not a preventative thing. It is meant to be in reaction of an overdose," Kelly said.
Kelly started her organization after her brother died of an overdose. She says along with correct Narcan use, she believes there needs to be more accurate information from coroners.
"When my brother died, he would have been one in 72,000, but they classified him as a cardiac arrest," Kelly explained. "I hope over the next few years, we can see more accurate numbers."
She says more education on overdose prevention could also be a reason for the small decline.
"People are more aware," Kelly said. "A couple years ago, we talked about some of the drugs that we see now pretty commonly, and people wouldn't really have an idea about that. Now what we're seeing with xylazine is kind of how people were reacting with fentanyl when it first kind of came to the scene."
Norris and Kelly both believe work still needs to be done to get those numbers lower.
"It's just gonna be a revolving door until we start finding different ways to approach the substance abuse side," Kelly said.
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