DETROIT — Drug overdose deaths — the majority involving fentanyl — increased 16% between 2019 and 2020, according to data released Friday by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The increase is not a surprise, as preliminary figures from MDHHS and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have long indicated that drug overdose deaths are skyrocketing, surpassing previous records. Instead, the increase is a reminder that the state and the nation are combatting two public health crises at the same time: COVID-19 and illicit drugs.
Experts have blamed the increasing potency of drugs and the stress of the coronavirus pandemic for the increase in deaths.
