Defining the Problem

Since the increase in prescription opioid supply in the 1990s, the United States has grappled with a staggering rise in opioid-related overdose deaths. In 2022, there were 107,941 fatal overdoses, 82% of which involved at least one opioid (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2024). Trends from recent years indicate there has been a consistent increase in overdose deaths as well, with the CDC reporting a dramatic increase in death rates from 8.2 per 100,000 standard population in 2002 to 32.6 in 2022, with the COVID-19 pandemic only compounding the crisis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023). This public health crisis touches every community in our country.