US overdoses have fallen sharply in recent months [Video]

Federal data shows that overdose deaths in the United States are the lowest they’ve been in three years, and a new analysis suggests that some downward trends indicate “unprecedented” progress in the fight against the drug epidemic.Overdose deaths soared during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, jumping 30% between 2019 and 2020 and another 16% by the end of 2021, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the latest provisional data shows that overdose deaths made a sharp turn at the end of last year and have been trending down for months.There were about 101,000 overdose deaths in the year ending in April, CDC estimates. There are still far more lives being lost now than before the pandemic – in 2019, there were about 72,000 fatal overdoses – but the latest data shows that deaths dropped a marked 10% in one year and are …