FEBRUARY 2016

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

CAPITOL RESEARCH
HEALTH

Deaths from Drug Overdoses Rise Significantly

In 2014, overdose deaths numbered 47,055, approximately one and a half times as many deaths
as from motor vehicle crashes, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in December 2015.1 For the nation, the 2014 death rate from drug overdoses is
significantly higher than the rate in 2013 and since 2000 has more than doubled.
The increasing number of deaths from opioid
overdose is alarming, said CDC Director Tom Frieden,
M.D., M.P.H. in a December 2015 press release. The
opioid epidemic is devastating American families and
communities. To curb these trends and save lives,
we must help prevent addiction and provide support
and treatment to those who suffer from opioid use
disorders.2
The national death rate from drug overdoses rose
from 13.8 per 100,000 in 2013 to 14.7 per 100,000 in
2014, a 6.5 percent rate increase.3
Rates increased significantly for both sexes, for
people age 2544 years, and for non-Hispanic whites
and non-Hispanic blacks.4
In three regions of the countrythe Northeast, the
Midwest and the Southrates also increased significantly. The death rate did not change significantly
in the West region between 2013 and 2014.5
The five states with the largest increase in the rate
of overdose deaths between 2013 and 2014 were
North Dakota (125 percent), New Hampshire
(73.5 percent), Maine (27.3 percent), New Mexico
(20.8 percent) and Alabama (19.7 percent).6

WA

Statistically Significant
Drug Overdose Death Rate
Increase, 2013 to 2014
Source: CDC, MMWR, Dec. 18, 2015.
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p1218-drug-overdose.html

Seven more states had statistically significant rate

increases and another 22 posted rate increases,
however the year-over-year change was not statis
tically significant. No state had a statistically
significant decline in drug overdose death rates.7

MT

ME

ND
MN

OR
ID
WY
NV
CA

WI

SD

CO

AZ

PA
IL

KS
OK

NM

TX

The Council of State Governments

OH

IN

MO

VA

KY

NC

AR

SC
AL

GA

CT
RI
NJ

LA
FL

HI

NH
MA

WV

TN
MS

AK

MI

IA

NE
UT

VT

NY

DE
MD

The number of 2014 drug overdose deaths ranged

from 4,521 in California to 43 in North Dakota. More
than 1,000 people died in 18 states and more than 2,000
people died in six of those statesCalifornia, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas and New York.8
More people died from drug overdoses in 2014 than
in any previous year on record, according to CDC.
In just 15 years, from 2000 to 2014, nearly half a
million Americans have died from drug overdoses.
Drug overdose deaths, related both to prescription
drugsincluding opioid pain relieversand illicit
drugs have increased each year since 2000.9
After 20 years of research, the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University recommended in the December 2015 Guide
for Policymakers three policies that can make a
difference.10
Overdose prevention programs that widely distribute naloxone have shown that the effect of opioid
overdose can be reversed and death prevented.
The guide cites a systematic review that showed use
of naloxone by nonmedical bystanders averted death
in the vast majority of cases in which it was used.
Medication-assisted treatment, known at MAT,
allows a physician to prescribe buprenorphine within
an office setting. Studies have found that a significant
number of people are more likely to seek such
treatment than methadone treatment, which usually
requires daily visits to a clinic to receive methadone.
Access to MAT could be expanded if more physicians provided the treatment and if federal law was
changed to increase the numbers of patients a single
physician could treat.

Prescription drug monitoring programs are in place

in all states except Missouri. After Florida implemented their monitoring program, oxycodone-related
deaths fell by 25 percent. The impact remained even
after controlling for other factors such as tamperresistant packaging, enforcement crackdowns and
other relevant regulations.11
In March 2015, Sylvia Burwell, secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, announced a federal initiative to reduce drug overdoses,
deaths and dependence that focused on the same
three policies.12
RESOURCES
Rose A. Rudd, MSPH; Noah Aleshire, JD; Jon E. Zibbell, PhD; R. Matthew Gladden, PhD.
Increases in Drug and Opioid Overdose DeathsUnited States, 20002014. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Dec. 18,
2015. http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html.
2
CDC Newsroom. Press Release: Drug overdose deaths hit record numbers in 2014. December 18, 2015, 2:00 p.m. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p1218-drug-overdose.html.
3
Rudd, et al.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
National Center on Health Statistics, CDC WONDER. http://www.drugabuse.gov/relatedtopics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates.
10
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. Guide for Policymakers: Prevention,
Early Intervention and Treatment of Risky Substance Use and Addiction. December 2015.
http://www.casacolumbia.org/addiction-research/reports/guide-policymakers-preventionearly-intervention-and-treatment-risky.
11
Ibid.
12
HHS Press Office. HHS takes strong steps to address opioid-drug related overdose, death
and dependence. March 26, 2015. http://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2015/03/26/hhs-takesstrong-steps-to-address-opioid-drug-related-overdose-death-and-dependence.html.
1

Debra Miller, Director of Health Policy, dmiller@csg.org

U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths from 2000 to 2014

45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000

Overdoses from
Illicit Drugs
Overdoses from
Prescription Drugs

20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Source: National Center on Health Statistics, CDC WONDER. http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates.

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

Drug Overdose Deaths from 2013 to 2014

Number

Rate per 100,000

Number

Rate per 100,000

% change
2013 rate to
2014 rate

598
105
1,222
319
4,452
846
582
166
102
2,474
1,098
158
207
1,579
1,064
275
331
1,019
809
174
892
1,081
1,553
523
316
1,025
137
117
614
203
1,294
458
2,309
1,259
20
2,347
790
455
2,426
241
620
55
1,187
2,446
594
93
854
969
570
856
98

12.7
14.4
18.7
11.1
11.1
15.5
16
18.7
15
12.6
10.8
11
13.4
12.1
16.6
9.3
12
23.7
17.8
13.2
14.6
16
15.9
9.6
10.8
17.5
14.5
6.5
21.1
15.1
14.5
22.6
11.3
12.9
2.8
20.8
20.6
11.3
19.4
22.4
13
6.9
18.1
9.3
22.1
15.1
10.2
13.4
32.2
15
17.2

723
124
1,211
356
4,521
899
623
189
96
2,634
1,206
157
212
1,705
1,172
264
332
1,077
777
216
1,070
1,289
1,762
517
336
1,067
125
125
545
334
1,253
547
2,300
1,358
43
2,744
777
522
2,732
247
701
63
1,269
2,601
603
83
980
979
627
853
109

15.2
16.8
18.2
12.6
11.1
16.3
17.6
20.9
14.2
13.2
11.9
10.9
13.7
13.1
18.2
8.8
11.7
24.7
16.9
16.8
17.4
19
18
9.6
11.6
18.2
12.4
7.2
18.4
26.2
14
27.3
11.3
13.8
6.3
24.6
20.3
12.8
21.9
23.4
14.4
7.8
19.5
9.7
22.4
13.9
11.7
13.3
35.5
15.1
19.4

19.7
16.7
-2.7
13.5
0
5.2
10
11.8
-5.3
4.8
10.2
-0.9
2.2
8.3
9.6
-5.4
-2.5
4.2
-5.1
27.3
19.2
18.8
13.2
0
7.4
4
-14.5
10.8
-12.8
73.5
-3.4
20.8
0
7
125
18.3
-1.5
13.3
12.9
4.5
10.8
13
7.7
4.3
1.4
-7.9
14.7
-0.7
10.2
0.7
12.8

2013
State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

2014

Statistical significance
of rate change
from 2013 to 2014
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Significant
Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant
Not Significant

SOURCE: Rose A. Rudd, MSPH; Noah Aleshire, JD; Jon E. Zibbell, PhD; R. Matthew Gladden, PhD. Increases in Drug and Opioid Overdose DeathsUnited States, 20002014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Dec. 18, 2015. http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html.

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS