Adolescent Drug Overdose Fatalities May Have Decreased in 2023

Overall adolescent drug fatalities and the annual increase in deaths involving fentanyl slowed down in 2023 compared with 2022, with overall drug fatalities declining slightly and deaths involving fentanyl only increasing by 2% compared with 177% in the first year of the pandemic.¹

Adolescent drug fatalities have been an area of increased concern due to its sharp rise during the pandemic, increasing from 282 total deaths in 2019 to 546 in 2020, and continuing to increase year over year. This, a KFF analysis found,² was primarily due to opioids, an area that may be getting addressed with a slight decrease in opioid deaths in the second half of 2023.

However, drug fatalities remain high in adolescents, with drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl increasing faster in adolescents compared with adults. Overdose deaths involving fentanyl in adolescents increased from 32% in 2018 to 76% in 2023 compared with adults whose fentanyl-related deaths increasing from 47% in 2018 to 69%. The number and rates of deaths continues to remain lower in adolescents overall. The share of adolescents who report feelings of sadness or hopelessness has increased from 30% in 2013 to 40% in 2023, which could be an indicator for high school students more likely to turn to illicit substance use.

Adolescent drug overdose fatalities have decreased for the first time in 4 years | Image credit: Syda Productions - stock.adobe.com

Outside of drug fatalities, other aspects of drug use in adolescents declined or improved on pre-pandemic numbers. Fentanyl over dose deaths had the smallest increase in adolescents since the pandemic began from 2022 to 2023 at only a 2% increase, compared with 177% from 2019 to 2020. The use of drugs and alcohol decreased in 2023 to 10% of high school students reporting using illicit drugs compared with 13% in 2017. Current alcohol use declined to 22% in 2023 compared with 30% in 2017; opioid misuse also decreased from 14% in 2017 to 12% in 2023.

These statistics give a clearer idea of what areas of substance use in adolescents could be addressed with future government initiatives, school interventions, and medical treatments for substance use. Information on drug and alcohol use disorder and prevention is covered in schools according to 6 in 10 adolescents. This information can be related in multiple ways, including in classes, lectures, watching films, or having discussions outside of class. A little over half of the adolescents also reported receiving information from their parents (51%). Having this knowledge can help to determine whether the frequency of both education opportunities and parental assistance is frequent enough to decrease the frequency of overdose deaths.

With only 19.3% of adolescents with substance use disorder receiving treatment within the past year, implementing other efforts to reduce the drug crisis could be beneficial to reducing the rates overall. The Biden-Harris administration has allocated $94 million through the Drug Free Communities Support Program, which works to partner with school districts to reduce substance use in children. Schools have been recommended to stock naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose quickly, but only half of the largest school districts are stocking it.

Moves have been made by both the president and Congress to protect adolescents on social media in order to reduce the number of times adolescents come across fentanyl and other substance use on the internet, as well as crack down on substances being bought and sold online to adolescents. Legislation on teaching adolescents media literacy has passed in several states and the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill that aims to increase regulations for social media companies, has passed the Senate.

Reducing the number of drug use fatalities in adolescents, while seeing some progress in 2023 compared with previous years, is still a mounting concern. Government policy, school board actions, and accessible medical interventions can help to further stem the number of fatalities due to substance use in all adolescents throughout the country.

References

1. The sharp rise in adolescent drug overdose fatalities that began during the pandemic in 2020 plateaued and may have started to decrease in 2023. KFF News Alert. October 15, 2024. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://connect.kff.org/adolescent-drug-overdose-fatalities-plateaued-in-2023
2. Panchal N, Zizzer S. Teens, drugs, and overdose: contrasting pre-pandemic and current trends. KFF. October 15, 2024. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/teens-drugs-and-overdose-contrasting-pre-pandemic-and-current-trends/