New Mexico saw fatal overdoses decrease in 2023 for second straight year

SANTA FE — New Mexico’s drug overdose rate declined in 2023 for the second consecutive year, though the state’s rate remained significantly above the national average.

At least 948 people died due to drug overdoses across New Mexico in 2023, with a rate of 46.3 deaths per 100,000 people. Nationwide, the fatal overdose rate in 2023 was much lower, at 31.3 deaths per 100,000 people.

The state has now reported back-to-back annual drops in overdose deaths, down from 997 deaths in 2022 and 1,029 the year before, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Health.

Fentanyl was the leading cause of fatal overdoses, as the drug was involved in 65% of the state’s overdose deaths in 2023. Methamphetamine played a role in about half of the state’s overdose deaths.

Statewide overdose death data for 2024 is not yet available, but preliminary figures could be released by this spring, a Health Department spokesman said.

Miranda Durham, the health department’s chief medical officer, said many of the state’s overdose deaths are from people mixing different drugs.

She attributed New Mexico’s overall decrease in the death toll to several factors, including needle exchanges, a 2022 law legalizing test strips for detecting fentanyl and more widespread availability of Narcan, a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.

“It’s awesome to see that all this work is potentially paying off, but we still have a lot more work to do,” Durham told the Journal.

In an attempt to further reduce drug overdose deaths, some New Mexico first responders are now using Suboxone, a drug used to treat individuals with opioid addictions while in withdrawal, she said.

While fentanyl use remains a major concern among public health officials and law enforcement agencies alike, state data shows more people are now smoking the drug than injecting it, Durham said. Smoking the drug is less likely to lead to fatal overdoses, she added.

Before the last several years, New Mexico’s drug overdose death rate had been steadily increasing.

The overdose rate jumped from 30.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019 to 50.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, according to legislative data.

The number of overdose deaths in 2021 was an all-time high in the state and was the nation’s sixth-highest rate, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. West Virginia and Tennessee had the nation’s highest rates of drug overdose deaths.

Meanwhile, Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and San Miguel were among the New Mexico counties that posted 2023 drug overdose rates above the statewide average of 46.3 deaths per 100,000 people, according to DOH data.

Rio Arriba County has struggled with particularly high drug overdose rates in recent years, with a overdose death rate of more than double the statewide average.

As for drug overdose deaths by age, individuals between the ages of 35 to 44 were the most likely to die of an overdose in 2023, according to DOH data. The age group with the next-highest rate of overdose deaths was individuals between 45 to 54 years old.

Interim state Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie said the issue of drug abuse in New Mexico is a complicated one, but described the recent drop in drug overdose deaths as welcome news.

“Substance misuse is a multifaceted and complex public health issue, and we need to continue to aggressively attack this problem,” DeBlassie said.