Drug overdoses are declining, reports Stateline:
Since their peak less than three years ago, opioid overdose deaths dropped nearly by half as of October, according to a Stateline analysis. The drop comes as a shrinking fentanyl supply has made the drug weaker and less deadly and volunteer efforts get more people into treatment.
The weaker fentanyl tracks to a crackdown on materials used to make fentanyl in China….Some experts see it as a welcome, but possibly temporary, break for states in a scourge that boosted crime as people who are using the drugs sometimes fall into homelessness and steal to support fentanyl habits.
The numbers and rates of opioid overdose deaths fell for all races between 2023 and 2026, according to more detailed data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed by Stateline. That’s in contrast to an earlier trend from 2019 to 2023, when rates dropped only among white people and rose sharply among Black and Indigenous Americans.
Ohio had the nation’s largest decrease since mid-2023, when the nation’s opioid overdose deaths peaked…
Ohio is seeing a difference in the bottom line, said Erin Reed, director of RecoveryOhio…“We’re seeing things you would expect — like reductions in emergency department visits and reductions in Medicaid costs,” Reed said. “But we’re also seeing a positive impact on violent crime and recidivism.”
Global average life expectancy and income are at an all-time high. Life expectancy is expected to rise by 5 years by 2050.
On the other hand, hundreds of children were recently slaughtered in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, where thousands of people have starved to death.
