NEW YORK (AP) — More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, setting another tragic U.S. record.
That translates to roughly one overdose death every 5 minutes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday released provisional data for 2021.
The estimate marked a 15% increase from the previous record — set in 2020.
The CDC reviews death certificates to come up with the estimates.
Overdose death trends are geographically uneven. Alaska saw a 75% increase in 2021 — the largest jump of any state. In Hawaii, overdose deaths fell by 2%.