New York • Fentanyl is driving drug overdose deaths in the U.S. overall, but in nearly half of the country, it’s a different story. Meth is the bigger killer, a new government report shows.
Nationwide, most deaths still involve opioid drugs like fentanyl and heroin. But in 2017, the stimulant meth was the drug most frequently involved in deaths in four regions that include 19 states west of the Mississippi.
The report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the agency's first geographic breakdown of deaths by drug. It's based on 2017 figures when there were more than 70,000 overdose deaths in the U.