But even in the late 1980s — the height of the crack crisis — only about three in 100,000 Americans died from a drug overdose per year. In 1988, the peak year for drug overdose in the '80s, Americans were roughly three times more likely to die by homicide, four times more likely to die by suicide, and six times more likely to die in a car accident than by overdose.

In the mid-1990s, something changed. Death rates began rising, slowly but exponentially. Between 1990 and 2000, the overdose death rate doubled, from 2.6 per 100,000 to 5.3 per 100,000. The decade between 2000 and 2010 saw another doubling. From 2010 to 2020, the rate tripled, to 29.2 per 100,000 — 10 times the rate in the 1980s, and 30 times the lows of the postwar period.

Drug overdose is now the leading cause of non-medical death in the United States. As of 2021, it was only slightly less deadly than all homicides, suicides, and motor-vehicle fatalities combined. Drugs still cause addiction, of course, and addiction still hurts addicts and society. But, likely for the first time ever, the primary harm of today’s drug crisis is death.

Worthwhile:

https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/how-to-think-about-the-drug-crisis#