Black Americans are now dying from drug overdoses at a higher rate than whites
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Drug deaths among Black Americans continue to surge. For the first time since the opioid epidemic began, the rate of drug overdose deaths for African Americans is higher than among whites. That's according to a new study published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. NPR addiction correspondent Brian Mann reports.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: As recently as 2010, drug deaths among Black Americans per capita were about half the rate of white Americans. But as the opioid crisis kept exploding, a deadly trend emerged. The drug death rate among Black Americans accelerated, catching up and now exceeding that among whites.
JOSEPH FRIEDMAN: I do think that people are starting to realize the magnitude of this problem.
MANN: Joseph Friedman, an addiction researcher at UCLA, looked at drug death data from 1999 through 2020 and says the biggest factor killing more Black people with substance use disorder is fentanyl.
FRIEDMAN: The street drug supply is becoming very, very toxic.
MANN: Because of fentanyl, drug use is more deadly for all Americans, but this new study suggests Black Americans who struggle with addiction often have even riskier sources of street drugs. That's according to Dr. Helena Hansen, a researcher at UCLA and co-author of this study.
HELENA HANSEN: People who are lower down on the social hierarchy tend to be exposed to fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids at disproportionate rates. So you find Black Americans are exposed to fentanyl more often than white Americans.
MANN: Hansen notes Black Americans with substance use disorder also frequently lack access to health care and drug treatment. They're arrested and incarcerated at far higher rates, which means they have fewer chances to get healthy and avoid deadly relapses. This research follows a study published last month that forecast more than 1.2 million additional drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in the coming decade. Dr. Stephen Taylor with the American Society of Addiction Medicine says the data suggests his community will bear the brunt of the next phase of the opioid epidemic.
STEPHEN TAYLOR: I'm terrified of that prospect. A larger percentage of this next million will be Black and other people of color.
MANN: These researchers agree the best way to prevent many of those deaths in the Black community is better health care and more access to addiction treatment. Brian Mann, NPR News.
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