Drug Deaths - Women in United States

United States

Drug overdose deaths have risen in the United States over the past two decades and become a leading cause of injury death. In 2023, more than 105,000 Americans died of a drug overdose, including more than 30,000 women. Provisional data estimates that drug deaths decreased an unprecedented 24% in 2024; however, they remain a leading cause of death among adults ages 18-44.

Though these statistics reflect all drug deaths, opioids — fentanyl in particular — are the most significant contributor. More than 69% of drug deaths in 2023 involved an opioid. Overdose deaths caused by using multiple illicit substances simultaneously have also been on the rise, and often involve opioids. Other drugs that contribute to drug deaths in the U.S. include stimulants like cocaine and tranquilizers such as benzodiazepines. 

The effects of substance misuse contribute to public health problems like neonatal abstinence syndrome, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Heavy drug use and overdoses are also costly to society, burdening individuals, families, the health care system and the economy. In 2017, fatal opioid overdoses and opioid use disorder cost the U.S. $1.02 trillion. 

For pregnant women, accessing proper treatment for opioid use disorder may be challenging, as some providers will not treat pregnant patients. In 2017, 1.4 million children were affected by parental opioid use and 240,000 children lost a parent to opioid overdose.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, the drug death rate is highest among:

• Women ages 35-44 compared with those ages 20-34. 
• American Indian/Alaska Native women, who have a prevalence more than 20 times higher than Asian women.

A multifaceted and coordinated approach between public health and public safety has been a crucial component of the response effort. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has compiled prevention strategies, including:

• Supporting surveillance and funding research on strategies to prevent opioid-related harms.
• Building state, local and tribal capacity to coordinate prescription drug monitoring programs and respond to drug overdose outbreaks.
• Supporting providers, health systems and payers in efforts to improve opioid prescribing for pain management, including use of the CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain. 
• Improving public safety by supporting law enforcement strategies to reduce the illicit opioid supply and expand distribution and timely use of naloxone (an antidote to reverse an opioid overdose). 
• Empowering consumers to make safe choices by increasing awareness of the potential harms associated with prescription opioid misuse through the Rx Awareness Campaign. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has published an opioid overdose prevention toolkit for providers, communities, local governments and consumers. The National Institute on Drug Abuse offers resources and advice about what to do if someone you know is struggling with illicit drug misuse. 

In 2020, the Office on Women’s Health published a toolkit to help health care professionals and social services organization leaders improve care coordination for women with opioid use disorder.

Reducing drug overdose deaths is a Healthy People 2030 leading health indicator. Additional drug-related objectives include:

• Increasing abstinence from illicit drugs among pregnant women.
• Reducing the proportion of women who use illicit opioids during pregnancy.
• Reducing the proportion of adolescents who used drugs in the past month.

Brundage, Suzanne C., Adam Fifield, and Lee Partridge. The Ripple Effect: National and State Estimates of the U.S. Opioid Epidemic’s Impact on Children. United Health Foundation, 2019. https://media.uhfnyc.org/filer_public/6e/80/6e80760f-d579-46a3-998d-1aa816ab06f6/uhf_ripple_effect_national_and_state_estimates_chartbook.pdf.

Carroll, Jennifer J., Traci C. Green, and Rita K. Noonan. Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Opioid Overdose: What’s Working in the United States. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/media/pdfs/2018-evidence-based-strategies.pdf.

Dowell, Deborah, Kathleen R. Ragan, Christopher M. Jones, Grant T. Baldwin, and Roger Chou. “CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain — United States, 2022.” MMWR. Recommendations and Reports 71, no. 3 (November 4, 2022): 1–95. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.rr7103a1.

Drug Enforcement Administration. 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment. U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, May 2025. https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/2025NationalDrugThreatAssessment.pdf.

Florence, Curtis, Feijun Luo, and Ketra Rice. “The Economic Burden of Opioid Use Disorder and Fatal Opioid Overdose in the United States, 2017.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 218 (January 2021): 108350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108350.

Patrick, Stephen W., Melinda B. Buntin, Peter R. Martin, Theresa A. Scott, William Dupont, Michael Richards, and William O. Cooper. “Barriers to Accessing Treatment for Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorder in Appalachian States.” Substance Abuse 40, no. 3 (October 9, 2018): 356–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/08897077.2018.1488336.

Phillippi, Julia C., Rebecca Schulte, Kemberlee Bonnet, Peter R. Martin, Katy B. Kozhimannil, Stephen W. Patrick, William O. Cooper, and David D. Schlundt. “Reproductive-Age Women’s Experience of Accessing Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: ‘We Don’t Do That Here.’” Women’s Health Issues, June 2, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2021.03.010.

Spencer, Merianne, Matthew Garnett, and Arialdi Miniño. Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2002-2022. NCHS Data Brief No. 491. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, March 2024. https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc:135849.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA Overdose Prevention and Response Toolkit. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2023. https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/overdose-prevention-response-kit-pep23-03-00-001.pdf.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Caring for Women with Opioid Use Disorder: A Toolkit for Organization Leaders and Providers. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Women’s Health, November 2020.https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/hrsa/owh/caring-women-opioid-disorder.pdf.