USA Today:  “More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses during the 12 months following the COVID-19 lockdowns, the most overdose deaths ever recorded in a one-year span, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics estimates released Wednesday show 100,306 drug overdose deaths during 12 months ending in April. That represents a jump of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period one year before.

“The provisional data, which includes cases still under investigation, provides the first full picture of the impact ofstay-at-home orders many states implemented mid-to-late March 2020 to limit spread of the COVID-19 virus. Although states began to ease restriction weeks or months later, some in recovery struggled to maintain sobriety, while others turned to drugs to cope.
Experts say the drug overdose deaths spiked as people felt isolated, lost jobs or struggled with the emotional toll of loved ones afflicted with COVID-19.

“‘Two forces here are the negative economic impact of the pandemic as well as the emotional impact,’ said Dr. Paul Christo, associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. ‘That led a lot of people to use drugs of abuse to cope.’ While prescription painkillers drove the nation’s overdose epidemic in the last decade, they were supplanted by heroin and more recently by fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. Fentanyl was developed to treat intense pain from ailments like cancer but has increasingly been sold illicitly and mixed with other street drugs.”