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amna: New data from the CDC this

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week shows a significant drop in

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drug overdose deaths, down

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nearly 17% year-over-year from

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approximately 113,000 to just

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over 94,000.

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It's a rare bit of good news

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after decades of rising

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fatalities.

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Nationwide, overdose deaths have

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nearly quadrupled since 2002,

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and spiked to record highs

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during the pandemic.

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But the root causes of this

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decline are still unclear.

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To unpack it all we're joined

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now by Brian Mann, NPR's

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national addiction

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correspondent.

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Welcome back and thank you for

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joining us.

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These are encouraging numbers

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for sure but poor perspective

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even with that drop, annual

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overdose deaths are still above

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90,000.

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That would be a record high in

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year before 2020.

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Remind us how those numbers got

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so high in the first place.

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Brian: You know, so we had this

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terrible double hit.

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The covid pandemic came and it

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disrupted addiction treatment

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and public health programs

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nationwide.

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And at the same time, fentanyl

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landed, this very toxic, very

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powerful street opioid that

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comes from Mexico and China.

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And those together, we saw in

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some years a 30% increase in

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deaths.

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And so to see now this big shift

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to a 17% decline year over year,

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that's a big downward trend.

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Amna: So we know the Biden

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administration is taking partial

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credit for it.

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And they point to their efforts

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to distribute naloxone, the

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medicine that can rapidly

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reverse an opioid overdose.

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They also point to their success

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disrupting global drug

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trafficking networks.

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Did that play a role in this

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decline?

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Do we know what's behind it?

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Brian: So there is a mystery

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here.

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I mean, this is such a huge

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decline.

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It's unprecedented in the

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history of drug addiction in

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America to see a drop this fast.

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But most of the researchers and

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frontline public health workers

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I talked to do think naloxone is

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reversing a lot of overdoses

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that would otherwise be fatal.

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That's playing a role.

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There has been an immense effort

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to target the cartels, and

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there's some sign that the

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fentanyl reaching American

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streets may be weaker and maybe

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a little bit less available.

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So these are just some of the

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responses that the people I'm

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talking to say are really

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working, saving, at this point,

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tens of thousands of lives .

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Amna: There are some pockets of

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data that seem to be bucking the

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trend, though, right?

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Where are we not seeing progress

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and why not?

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Brian: I talked about this

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mystery, and one of the things

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that we don't understand yet is

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why six states, mostly in the

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west, are still seeing dramatic

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increases.

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Nevada and Alaska are

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particularly problematic.

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They're up 25% to 40%.

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Also, researchers are telling me

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that in black communities and

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native American communities,

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still a lot of vulnerability, a

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lot of people still dying.

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So, this recovery really does

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appear to be happening.

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Amna: So you mentioned this is a

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significant decline,

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unprecedented for what we've

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seen here in America.

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But is it the beginning of a

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bigger downward trend?

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I mean, where do we think the

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numbers will go from here?

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Brian: So what we've seen now is

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an eight month long sustained

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recovery.

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That is a good sign.

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This does not appear to just be

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a one month statistical blip.

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And another thing that really

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looks good here is that the rate

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of decline of drug deaths,

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that's growing month to month,

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it seems to be accelerating.

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One of the reasons that

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researchers are trying to

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understand the mysteryryf why

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this is happening is so they can

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sustain it and maybe build on

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it.

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As you say, 94,000 deaths is

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still catastrophically high,

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right?

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This is not good enough.

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And if we begin to plateau here,

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everyone agrees that this is not

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going to be the place we want to

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stay.

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So that is going to be the big

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question.

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As we transition to the trump

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administration, can they find

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ways to not only keep this

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going, but to build on it and to

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and to keep those deaths

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dropping month over month going

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on into the future?

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Amna: While I've got you I want

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to ask about some other

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headlines that have gotten some

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attention.

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There's been some controversy

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around the kind of harm

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reduction approach we've seen in

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some communities.

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Oregon, for example,

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decriminalizing personal drug

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possession in 2020, then

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recriminalizing it this year.

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Rhode Island now, one of the

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only places to open a safe

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injection site in the country

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soon.

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What do we know in terms of data

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and your reporting about how

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effective those kinds of efforts

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are?

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Brian: This is a really

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interesting thing about drug

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addiction is that sometimes harm

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reduction responses that do

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things like providing clean

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needles to people, in some cases

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even giving people safe places

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to use drugs where they're

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monitored by medical personnel.

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These are controversial, but

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there is a lot of data showing

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that they work.

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They do save lives.

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Here's the problem.

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They also can lead to community

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problems.

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There are places where people

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worry about crime.

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They worry about people doing

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drugs in their neighborhoods.

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And so one of the tensions that

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a lot of communities, from

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Portland, Oregon to Seattle,

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Washington, right across the

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country, what they're wrestling

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with is trying to find ways to

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provide those harm reduction

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services, which have a pretty

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good track record saving lives,

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but doing it in a way that also

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deals with that crime issue and

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with that public safety issue.

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Amna: That's Brian Mann, NPR's

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national addiction

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correspondent, joining us

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tonight.

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Brian, thank you.

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Brian: Thanks.