CDC: Drug Overdose Deaths Dropped by 24% in Arkansas in 2024

Drug overdose deaths in Arkansas declined sharply in 2024, reaching their lowest annual level in six years, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC estimates, based on provisional data available as of August 3, that 391 people died from drug overdoses in Arkansas in 2024. This means that one person in Arkansas dies every day from a drug overdose, but it represents a 24% decrease from 2023, when 516 overdose deaths were reported in the state, according to the CDC’s final data for that year. The 2024 death toll was the lowest since 2019, when 388 overdose deaths were reported in Arkansas. Overdose deaths in the state have declined each year since reaching a peak of 637 in 2021.

Nationally, drug overdose deaths have followed a similar pattern. The CDC’s provisional data indicate that 81,711 overdose deaths occurred in the U.S. in 2024, compared to 105,007 in 2023 according to final data for that year, a decrease of 22%. The national death toll for 2024 was the lowest since 2019, when 70,630 overdose deaths were reported. Overdose deaths have been declining nationally since reaching a record high of 107,941 in 2022.

Overdose deaths began spiking in 2020, both nationally and in Arkansas, a trend that coincided with an influx of synthetic opioids into the nation’s illicit drug supply. In 2023, 69% of all overdose deaths in the U.S. involved synthetic opioids, primarily illegally made fentanyl and similar drugs, according to the CDC. Disruptions in health care and increased isolation and mental health stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic likely exacerbated the overdose surge.

Research will be needed to determine why overdose deaths have dropped, but increased availability of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, also known as Narcan, is likely a significant factor. Policy changes intended to improve access to naloxone emerged across the country in recent years, including in Arkansas, where lawmakers approved legislation to require co-prescriptions of naloxone with prescriptions of high-dose opioids, make naloxone available on public high school and college campuses, and loosen restrictions on who can supply naloxone to a person at risk of overdose. In March 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of naloxone, increasing the availability of the lifesaving drug nationwide.

An ACHI analysis found that after the Arkansas General Assembly enacted Act 651 of 2021, which requires co-prescription of naloxone with high-dose opioids, naloxone prescription fills in the state jumped from 5,595 in the 2021 fiscal year to 26,042 in the 2022 fiscal year, a 365% increase.