Overdose numbers soar in 2020 according to CDC

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI)- Wednesday, the CDC reported that deaths caused by drug overdoses soared by 30 percent in 2020.

Overdoses from opioids, methamphetamine, and cocaine each have seen a spike last year.

Members of the West Point Police Department say they are seeing the spike in their own community.

“Most of our overdoses were seeing is the mid thirties to early forties, said Parker Smith, narcotics detective for the West Point Police Department. “The younger group is the one experiment with this fentanyl and they have an immune system -or their bodies used to the fentanyl. Where as these older folks is getting out and experimenting with it and as soon as they inject themselves or inhale it, it normally kills them within seconds if not minutes -depending on the dosage.”

Over 93 thousand people died from drug overdose in the U.S. Compared to over 72 thousand in 2019.

It’s the largest statistical increase since 1999.