In the United States, the number of alcohol or other drug (AOD) overdose deaths had been climbing over the last two decades. The number of AOD overdose deaths in 2023 was over 6 times that in 1999. Since 2009, AOD overdoses has been the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing the number of deaths from both motor vehicle crashes and firearms.
In Los Angeles County (LAC), AOD overdose deaths followed national trends with a few years of lag. Since 2017, AOD overdoses surpassed the number of deaths from both motor vehicle crashes and firearms.
In 2023, AOD overdoses decreased from the prior year in LAC and at the national level, signaling a possible plateauing of the AOD overdose epidemic (Figure 1).
(Notes: Based on death certificate data. For local AOD-related death data from the Medical Examiner’s Office, please see Figures 2-21).
The overall number and rate of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC has been increasing every year until 2022, when the peak reached 3,220 deaths (age-adjusted rate of 30.8 per 100,000 population). From 2022 to 2023, accidental overdose deaths decreased by 3%, marking the first decline in the past decade. This was followed by a more substantial 22% drop from 2023 to 2024, with a total of 2,438 deaths in 2024 (age-adjusted rate of 23.1 per 100,000), representing the lowest number recorded since 2019.
Fentanyl and methamphetamine were the most common drugs involved in accidental overdose deaths in LAC (Figures 2-3).
From 2015-2024 in LAC, accidental AOD overdose deaths occurred most frequently among adults aged 40-64 years, followed by adults aged 26-39, young adults aged 18-25, older adults aged 65+, then youth aged 0-17 (Figure 4).
Much of the increases in accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC in the past decade were driven by people aged 40-64 and 26-39. In 2024, the accidental AOD overdose death rates per 100,000 population were highest for adults aged 40-64, followed by adults aged 26-39, older adults aged 65+, young adults aged 18-25, and youth aged 17 and under. The rate of accidental drug overdose deaths decreased earlier and more substantially among younger age groups. (Figures 5-6).
In 2015-2024, males accounted for the majority (78%) of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC (Figures 7-8).
The gender disparity in accidental AOD overdose age-adjusted death rates grew from a male rate that was 2.6 times that of the female rate in 2015 to 4.0 times in 2024 (Figure 9).
From 2015-2024, the largest number of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC occurred among Whites, followed by Hispanic/Latinos, Blacks, Asians, then American Indians/Alaskan Natives (AIAN), Pacific Islanders (PI), and those with multi-race/ethnicities (Multi) (Figure 10).
(Note: Multi-race/ethnicity category was available starting in 2023.)
Whites had the largest number of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC every year in the past decade, until 2023, when Hispanic/Latinos continued to increase and surpass that of Whites (Figure 11).
Accounting for differences in the population sizes, the accidental AOD overdose age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 population among Blacks was over double (2.1 times) that of Whites, over triple (3.4 times) that of Hispanic/Latinos, and over 16 times that of Asians in 2024 (Figure 12).
For every year in the past decade, males aged 40-64 had by far the highest number and rates of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC among gender-age groups. In 2024, males aged 40-64 accounted for 43% of all accidental AOD overdose deaths, occurring at a rate of 68.5 deaths per 100,000 population (Figures 13-14).
From 2015-2024, Whites aged 40-64 had the largest number of accidental AOD overdose deaths of all race/ethnicity-age groups, followed by Hispanic/Latinos aged 40-64, Whites aged 26-39, Blacks aged 40-64, and Hispanic/Latinos aged 26-39 (Figure 15).
In terms of population rates, Blacks aged 40-64 had the highest rates of accidental AOD overdose deaths (rate=92 per 100,000 population), which was nearly double that of Whites aged 40-64 (rate=47 per 100,000 population) from 2015-2024 (Figure 16).
Overall from 2015-2024, White males accounted for the most accidental AOD overdose deaths of race/ethnicity-gender groups, followed by Hispanic/Latinos males and Black males. In 2020, accidental AOD overdose deaths in Hispanic/Latino males surpassed that of White males and continued to increase through 2023 (Figure 17).
In terms of population rates, Black males had the highest accidental AOD overdose death rates, which more than doubled (2.3 times) that of White males, over triple (3.5 times) that of Latinx males, and 14 times that of Asian males in 2024 (Figure 18).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Provisional Mortality on CDC WONDER Online Database. Data are from the final Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2022, and from provisional data for 2023, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10-provisional.html on Oct 7, 2024.
Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. Medical Examiner investigation reports. Data as of May 2025.