Drug-induced causes accounted for more than 96,000 deaths in the United States in 2020.  Over 95% of those drug related fatalities stemmed from overdoses. On a national basis, this translated to approximately 29.2 drug-induced deaths per 100,000 population.  Drug-induced fatalities were up sharply from 2019 when the U.S. recorded about 74,500 drug-related deaths and incurred a drug-induced death rate of 22.7 per 100,000 population.  The year-to-year deterioration in U.S. drug-induced death statistics was reflective of a negative trend that goes back at least the past two decades.  In 2020 the twelve-state Southeastern U.S. recorded over 28,000 drug-induced deaths, giving the region a collective drug-induced death rate of 32.8 such deaths per 100,000 population.  The region's collective drug-induced death rate was approximately 12% above the national average in 2020. Among the region's twelve states, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia all recorded 2020 drug-induced death rates that were more than 50% higher than the national average.  A closer look at data from the National Center for Health Statistics provides the following details about drug-induced death rates in the Southeastern U.S.:

Drug-Induced Death Rates in the Southeastern U.S.

State	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
Alabama	1,213	4,921,532	24.6
Arkansas	585	3,030,522	19.3
Florida	7,480	21,733,312	34.4
Georgia	2,024	10,710,017	18.9
Kentucky	2,187	4,477,251	48.8
Louisiana	1,953	4,645,318	42.0
Mississippi	611	2,966,786	20.6
North Carolina	3,290	10,600,823	31.0
South Carolina	1,804	5,218,040	34.6
Tennessee	3,161	6,886,834	45.9
Virginia	2,331	8,590,563	27.1
West Virginia	1,397	1,784,787	78.3
Region	28,036	85,565,785	32.8
U.S. Totals	96,096	329,484,123	29.2

(*) number of drug-induced deaths (intentional and unintentional) per 100,000 population

Report Period: 2020

Source: CDC Wonder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2020 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2020, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed on November 5, 2022