Teen drug overdoses hit record high, driven primarily by fentanyl poisoning, says new report

A record number of high school teens died of drug overdoses in 2022 in 
an alarming trend driven primarily by fentanyl poisonings from 
counterfeit pills, according to a new study published in The New England 
Journal of Medicine.

Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 
the Boston researchers found that an average of 22 adolescents ages 14 
to 18 years old died each week in the U.S. from drug overdoses in 2022.

The death rate for drug overdoses among teens is more than double what 
it was in 2018, according to the study, which is entitled "The Overdose 
Crisis Among U.S. Adolescents."

A total of 1,125 teens died of drug overdose or poisoning in 2022, 
making it the third-leading cause of death for teenagers across the 
country – behind firearm-related injuries and motor vehicle crashes, 
respectively, the report said.

"Fewer teens than ever are actively using drugs, and yet more teens than 
ever are dying," senior author Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of the Division 
of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at MassGeneral Hospital for 
Children and Harvard Medical School, told Fox News.

https://www.foxnews.com/health/teen-drug-overdoses-hit-record-high-driven-primarily-fentanyl-poisoning-report