New national data from the CDC show that overdose deaths are in decline. The trend started in 2023 and reflects what many harm reduction workers have known all along—when people have access to tools that keep them safer, they are less at risk. This moment marks not an endpoint, but a reminder that sustained progress depends on continuing to expand the strategies that are saving lives.
Before this decline, the United States experienced more than two decades of rising overdose mortality, beginning with a wave driven by prescription painkillers, followed by a shift toward heroin, and eventually by the spread of illicitly manufactured fentanyl. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), overdose deaths increased nearly every year from 1999 through 2022, with synthetic opioids accounting for most fatalities towards the end of that period.
The recent data show just how far we’ve come. The CDC reports that overdose deaths fell by 27% between 2023 and 2024, dropping from an estimated 110,037 deaths to 80,391 nationwide. The age‑adjusted overdose death rate declined from 31.3 to 23.1 deaths per 100,000 people, a 26% decrease—the largest single‑year drop in recent years—in that same period. Yet even with this progress, disparities persist. Historically, BIPOC communities have experienced disproportionately high overdose mortality rates, a pattern documented across multiple years of CDC and NIDA analyses. This inequity is evident in Massachusetts, where statewide data show that Black and Latino residents continue to face disproportionately high overdose-related death rates, and where regional reports highlight ongoing racial and geographic disparities despite the overall decline in fatal overdoses.
The Drug Policy Alliance’s recent fact sheet helps put the decline into context, highlighting the expansion of naloxone distribution, the prevalence of medications for opioid use disorder, easy access to drug-checking supplies like fentanyl test strips, and the steady presence of syringe service programs as crucial pieces to this progress. These are the interventions BeHERE strengthens every day. Our team has trained thousands of people across Massachusetts in overdose recognition and response, provided practical education on safer use and overdose risk factors, and routinely builds support for the Massachusetts Substance Use Helpline (the Helpline), which connects callers to vital services, including harm reduction services.
But the story we’re seeing across the nation and in Massachusetts is the threat of reduced funding to programs driving the decline in overdose deaths. Hugo Vieira, an RN, Founder and President of Massachusetts Peer Support for Nurses, BeHERE Trainer, and Helpline Specialist, recently told us to “celebrate the great progress, over the decades of work,” but cautioned that “it is still 80,000 people dying.” Nationally, proposed federal cuts to public health and harm reduction programs have raised alarms among providers. Court rulings that limit federal agency authority, along with congressional proposals to cut CDC and SAMHSA funding, have created uncertainty about the future of syringe services, naloxone distribution, and community-based outreach. In Massachusetts, local political decisions could compound that risk and undermine our progress. In Boston, for example, proposed Mass & Cass policies—outlined in Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery’s recent action alert—would reduce syringe distribution, increase policing, and expand pathways to involuntary detention. “For public health, the fight is far from over,” he continued, “maybe we found the arsenal to fight it—we need to double down, not cut [funding].”
Massachusetts has the chance to expand the strategies driving overdose deaths down while attempting to close disparities in the data and build community capacity. “Massachusetts has been trying to put money, programs, and support towards helping BIPOC communities that have been traditionally harmed,” Elizabeth Reardon, HRiA’s Associate Director of Capacity Building Assistance and BeHERE Trainer, said. “There is an effort underway in Massachusetts to rely on community expertise, to direct efforts towards communities that have been long overlooked, and to get these lifesaving drugs and resources into those communities.”
The evidence is clear, and our state has already built much of the infrastructure needed to help keep people safe—BeHERE is proud to be part of that system. Every training we deliver, every conversation about safer use, every Helpline referral strengthens the network of care that’s saving lives in our community. We will continue equipping Massachusetts residents with the knowledge, tools, and support they need. We’ll keep advocating for policies that honor people’s dignity and prioritize their health and well-being. The progress reflected in the national data is a beginning, not an end; we can choose to build on it.