Drug and alcohol deaths among over-65s has more than TRIPLED in last two decades trends now
Elderly Americans are being slammed by America's drug epidemic, with overdose and alcohol-related deaths surging since 2020 according to official data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 8.8 per every 100,000 Americans 65 and up died of an overdose in 2020, up from 2.4 in 2000, a three-fold increase.
A total of 5,209 elderly Americans died of an overdose in 2020. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl were the driving force behind the surge.
Alcohol was the source of 11,616 deaths in the age group, and rose 18 per cent from 2019 to 2020 - jumping from 17 to 20.1 per 100,000.
The trend follows that of the general population, where economic hardship and mental health issues spurred by the pandemic are blamed for record drug overdoses in America.
Drug overdose deaths among elderly Americans increased more than three-fold from 2000 to 2020, with men being slammed the hardest, according to official CDC data
Deaths caused by synthetic opioids like fentanyl began to surge in 2015 after remaining relatively low beforehand. They now make up the largest portion of drug overdose deaths in America and among the elderly
The report, published by the National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the CDC, Wednesday, compiled death data from 2021.
The 8.8 deaths per 100,000 residents is a new high since the turn of the century, and represents a massive surge over the past two decades.
It was mainly fueled by men, who saw overdose deaths increase nearly five-fold, from 2.7 per 100,000 to more than 12.3 per 100,000.
