North Carolina Methamphetamine Overdose Deaths Are Increasing Faster Than Opioid-Related Deaths

Between 2016 and 2017, North Carolina overdose deaths due to methamphetamine increased at a higher rate than the opioid overdose death rate. However, the absolute number of methamphetamine deaths represented less than 10% of the number of opioid-related overdose deaths. The number of methamphetamine deaths rose by 49.5%, from 109 in 2016 to 163 in 2017. The number of opioid-related deaths rose by 25.4%, from 1,584 in 2016 to 1,986 in 2017.

These statistics were reported by the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in two reports, “North Carolina Overdose Surveillance Annual . . .