Report: Fatal drug overdoses among teens up 94%

A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that the number of fatal overdose deaths among teenagers rose from 492 in 2019 to 954 in 2020, an increase of 94%.

“For decades, we’ve seen overdose rates rising among adults, and teens have been insulated from that,” said Joe Friedman, a public health researcher at the University of California-Los Angeles, as reported by NPR. “And now, for the first time, the overdose crisis is reaching teens as well.”

The problem fueling the overdoses apparently is fentanyl, according to the study, in the form of counterfeit prescription drugs. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. – READ MORE