Fentanyl Deaths Dropped Sharply in 2024—What’s Behind It?

The U.S. drug czar says China is more cooperative recently in curbing the flow of precursor drugs while treatment programs and naloxone availability increases.

Packets of fentanyl mostly in powder form and methamphetamine, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection say they seized from a truck crossing into Arizona from Mexico, is on display during a news conference at the Port of Nogales, Ariz., on Jan. 31, 2019. U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Reuters

Overdose deaths—with many tied to fentanyl—in the United States have dropped 17 percent in a one-year period ending in July 2024, according to recent statistics.

While experts can’t pinpoint the exact cause of the drop, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the Biden administration’s drug czar, believes several factors could be behind the decline.