NC overdose deaths top 4,000 in 2021, a record

Overdose deaths in North Carolina rose by 22% in 2021, to more than 4,000, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Posted 2/21/2023, 11:42:10 PM Updated 2/22/2023, 1:58:21 AM

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>> WE'RE BRINGING OUT SOME

TOUGH TO HEAR NEW NUMBERS FROM

THE STATE THAT SHOW MORE PEOPLE

ARE DYING FROM DRUG OVERDOSES.

4,041 SOULS DINING FROM

OVERDOSES IN 2021, THE STATE

SAYS THIS NUMBER IS THE HIGHEST

IT'S EVER BEEN. WRAL'S

INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALIST

ALI INGERSOLL JOINING US NOW,

ALI, THIS IS JUST SHOCKING AND

TRAGIC. YEAH. LEANING

CHRISTIE'S NUMBERS JUST CAME

OUT TODAY. MORE NORTH

CAROLINIANS LOST THEIR LIVES

TO OVERDOSES IN 2021.

>> AND ANY OTHER YEAR ON RECORD

IN THE STATE, THIS IS ALL

ACCORDING TO THIS NEW

INFORMATION RELEASED BY DHHS.

THAT NUMBER MORE THAN 4,000

MEANS THAT ON AVERAGE IN THE

DAY IN NORTH CAROLINA, 11

PEOPLE DIED FROM OVERDOSES.

IT WAS A 22% INCREASE FROM THE

YEAR BEFORE THE PANDEMIC.

REALLY WORSE IN THIS CRISIS.

THE DATA SHOWS, ESPECIALLY

AMONG MARGINALIZED

COMMUNITY MEMBERS OVERALL

OVERDOSES. OVERDOSE DEATHS ARE

STILL THE HIGHEST AMONG

NON-HISPANIC WHITE PEOPLE.

BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT PORTIONS OF

THE POPULATION, AMERICAN

INDIANS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

HAVE THE LARGEST SHARE WITH

94 DEATHS PER 100,000 PEOPLE

SINCE 2019 BEFORE THE PANDEMIC.

NORTH CAROLINIANS WHO IDENTIFY

AS BLACK AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN

HAVE SEEN THE BIGGEST INCREASE

IN OVERDOSE DEATH RATE JUMPS TO

139% IN THOSE 2 YEARS. NOW

TODAY DHHS ANNOUNCED THAT AFTER

THEY RELEASED THESE NUMBERS,

THEY'RE GOING TO CONTINUE

EXPANDING THEIR MOBILE CRISIS

CARE TO REACH PEOPLE ALL ACROSS

THE STATE. AND OF COURSE, ALL

THOSE NUMBERS REPRESENTS

FAMILIES THAT HAVE LOST PEOPLE.

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