A new national study reveals that Black men and women are experiencing a rapidly growing burden of fatal drug overdoses, surpassing their White counterparts in mortality rates and years of potential life lost. Researchers analyzed over 518,000 unintentional drug poisoning deaths from 2010 to 2020 and found that Black men now have the highest age-adjusted mortality rate—23.25 per 100,000—surpassing White men by 2016 and widening the gap through 2020.
The study also found that Black women’s overdose mortality rate overtook that of White women by 2019. Maryland saw the most dramatic increase for Black men, with a 485.4% rise in overdose deaths between 2015 and 2020. Other states with sharp increases included the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Alabama.
“These findings highlight a disproportionate burden of deaths due to drug poisonings,” the authors wrote. The years of potential life lost (YPLL) ratio—a measure of premature death—also worsened for Black men and women, while improving for White women.
The study did not examine social or structural factors directly, but the authors noted that persistent structural racism and limited access to harm reduction services in predominantly Black neighborhoods likely contribute to these disparities. They call for targeted public health interventions, including overdose prevention centers and expanded harm reduction programs, especially in communities hardest hit by the crisis.
Without urgent action, the racial and sex-based inequities in overdose mortality are likely to deepen.
See “Intersectional Racial and Sex Disparities in Unintentional Overdose Mortality” (April 1, 2025)
