Fentanyl overdose is now the leading cause of death for US adults ages 18 to 45, according to numbers from the CDC. Official overdose numbers for 2020 were 40% higher than the previous year. Fentanyl was to blame for 73% of those overdoses. In 2021, preliminary data indicates fentanyl was involved in 77% of overdose deaths. That 77% is a dramatic increase from the 31% of fentanyl-involved overdose deaths in 2016. The percentage has increased every year since, up to 53% in 2017, 56% in 2018 and 61% in 2019.
