NH drug overdose deaths declined in 2023
New Hampshire drug overdose deaths declined significantly in 2023, according to figures released by both the state medical examiner and the National Centers for Disease Control.
CONCORD, NH – New Hampshire drug overdose deaths declined significantly in 2023, according to figures released by both the state medical examiner and the National Centers for Disease Control.
There were 430 deaths attributed to overdoses in 2023, an 11.7% decrease from 2022’s 487, according to the New Hampshire Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in a Wednesday release.
The national CDC, which also released statistics Wednesday, listed 421 overdose deaths in New Hampshire, down from 484 in 2022, a 13.02% decline. The CDC notes that its numbers are provisional, pending final data.
The amount of overdose deaths for 2023, is the lowest for the state in a calendar year since 2020, when the medical examiner logged 415 deaths.
This year there have been 85 confirmed deaths attributed to drug overdoses in the state, with 53 pending toxicology, according to the medical examiner’s office.
In January, American Medical Response reported that overdoses overall were on the decline in Manchester and Nashua, the state’s two largest cities. AMR is the service that responds to emergency calls in the two cities.
While numbers can change fast, Christopher Stawasz, of AMR, said in January, “It is, however, highly encouraging and reflective of the level of effort being put forth by all who participate in the prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts in NH. That effort is non-stop and saving lives every day.”
Last month, Manchester launched its overdose prevention strategy, the first of its kind in the city.
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said at the time that while there has been a 25% reduction in suspected opioid overdose fatalities over the previous 12 months, more work must be done to address the issue, particularly in concert with the city’s response to homelessness. About half of the city’s overdoses are suffered by people who don’t have a fixed address.
Stawasz, of AMR, said that to prevent an overdose death, that “it is critical that people who use illicit drugs do not use them alone and have Narcan readily available.”
“It is completely safe and easy to administer,” Stawasz said.
Narcan is available at most pharmacies throughout the state, without a prescription, as well as free of charge from local public health departments and any NH Doorway location.
Types of drug, national trends
New Hampshire’s numbers reflect a national downward trend in overdose deaths, the first across the U.S. since 2018, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
There were 107,543 overdose deaths reported in the U.S. in 2023, a 3% decrease from the estimated 111,029 in 2022.
The biggest cause of overdose deaths nationally, by a huge margin, were those involving opioids, accounting for 81,083 in 2023, down from 84,181. The majority of those were synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, which accounted for 74,702 deaths in 2023, down from 76,226 in 2022. Natural or semi-synthetic opioids include things like morphine and codeine.
New Hampshire reflected that trend, with 381 deaths attributed to opioids, 362 of those synthetic opioids, according to CDC statistics.
Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, making it much more deadly, even in small doses, according to the CDC. Other drugs are often laced without, sometimes without the user’s knowledge, adding to the death toll related to other types of drug. It is not detectable by sight or smell if it’s laced into another drug.
Psychostimulants, including methamphetamine, were the second biggest cause, in New Hampshire accounting for 62 deaths. Cocaine was close behind, accounting for 61 deaths. Some deaths involve more than one drug.
Nationally, psychostimulants were also responsible for the second-highest number of deaths, and one of two causes that increased – 36,251 in 2023, compared to 35,550 in 2022.
The third biggest cause nationally, cocaine, also increased. There were 29,918 overdose deaths attributed to cocaine in 2023, compared to 28,441 in 2022.
Decreases, increases across the US
New Hampshire was third among New England states in percentage of decrease, according to the CDC, and one of 34 states to show an overdose decline in 2023.
New England CDC 2023 drug overdose fatalities:
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New Hampshire’s 430 overdose deaths in 2023 were the lowest in three years, according to New Hampshire State Medical Examiner Office statistics, right, as well as the national Centers for Disease Control (left). Graphic/Ink Link
States with the biggest increases in drug overdose deaths in 2023 were Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, where were up at least 27% or more from 2022.
