Black and Indigneous Americans Increasingly Victims of Overdose Deaths

As drug overdose rates in America surged by 31 percent in 2020, a study from the University of California Los Angeles found that the death rate surged most dramatically among Black and Indigenous Americans, who saw a staggering increase of 49 percent and 43 percent respectively in just one year, reports The Guardian. The driving force behind the spike is considered to be the explosion of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, that often end up mixed into street drugs such as heroin, methamphetamines or cocaine.

Between 2019 and 2020, the overdose death rate for Black and Indigenous Americans surpassed that of white Americans, who were already dying in unprecedented numbers. The study’s authors warn that drug overdoses are “increasingly becoming a racial justice issue,” one that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic but stems from historic inequities, including high rates of incarceration, economic disenfranchisement and loss of community cohesion. Still, others point to a “perfect storm” created by a wave of super-potent synthetic drugs hitting the streets at a time users were feeling increased isolation and displacement because of the pandemic, especially those in communities of color. While the number of overdose deaths rose for all racial groups nationally between 2019 and 2020, the rate increased fastest for African Americans, growing by 49 percent compared with a growth of 26 percent for white people. Overall death rates were highest for Indigenous Americans – who lost 41.4 people per 100,000 in the population in 2020, an increase of 43 percent over 2019.