In the United States, the opioid overdose death rate among young adults (18 to 24) increased 34 percent from 2018 to 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The crisis is primarily driven by fentanyl contamination in street drugs and counterfeit pills, putting many college students—often experimenting with drugs for the first time—at grave risk.
The CDC reports that for Americans age 18 to 45 the leading cause of death is fentanyl overdose. And, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl—50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine—is responsible for nearly 70 percent of the 107,000-plus drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2023.
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