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 in the past decade, but decreased 4% from 3,220 deaths (rate = 32.9 deaths per 100,000 population) in 2022 to 3,092 deaths (rate = 31.5 deaths per 100,000 population) in 2023.
Fentanyl and methamphetamine were the most common drugs involved in accidental overdose deaths in LAC (Figures 2-3).
From 2014-2023 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 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. While there were more accidental AOD deaths among people aged 40-64 than people aged 26-39, their rates per 100,000 population were similar in recent years (Figures 5-6).
In 2014-2023, males accounted for the majority (77%) of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC (Figures 7-8).
The gender disparity in accidental AOD overdose death rates grew from a male rate that was 2.7 times that of the female rate in 2014 to 4.0 times in 2023 (Figure 9).
From 2014-2023, the largest number of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC occurred among Whites, followed by Latinxs, Blacks, Asians, then American Indians/Alaskan Natives (AIAN) and Pacific Islanders (PI) (Figure 10).
Whites had the highest number of accidental AOD overdose deaths in LAC every year in the past decade, except for 2023, when Latinxs continued to increase and surpass that of Whites (Figure 11).
Accounting for differences in the population sizes, the accidental AOD overdose death rate per 100,000 population among Blacks was over double (2.1 times) that of Whites, over triple (3.6 times) that of Latinxs, and over 16 times of Asians in 2023 (Figure 12).
For every year in the past decade, males aged 40-64 had by far the highest accidental AOD overdose deaths and death rates in LAC among gender-age groups. In 2023, males aged 40-64 accounted for 40% of all accidental AOD overdose deaths, occurring at a rate of 81.2 deaths per 100,000 population (Figures 13-14).
From 2014-2023, Whites aged 40-64 had highest accidental AOD overdose deaths of all race/ethnicity-age groups, followed by Latinxs aged 40-64, Whites aged 26-39, Blacks aged 40-64, and Latinxs aged 26-39 (Figure 15).
In terms of population rates, Blacks aged 40-64 had the highest rates of accidental AOD overdose deaths (rate=81 per 100,000 population), which was nearly double that of Whites aged 40-64 (rate=43 per 100,000 population) from 2014-2023 (Figure 16).
Overall from 2014-2023, White males accounted for the most accidental AOD overdose deaths of race/ethnicity-gender groups, followed by Latinx males and Black males. In 2020, accidental AOD overdose deaths in Latinx 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 double (2.3 times) that of White males, over triple (3.4 times) that of Latinx males, and 17 times that of Asian males in 2023 (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 Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office. Coroner and Toxicology data. Data as of May 2024.