WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), issued the following statement regarding the CDC’s release of provisional drug overdose death data, which show 108,174 predicted overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in April 2022.

“For too many years, the overdose epidemic has taken a devastating toll on our families, our communities, and our economy. The data released by the CDC today continue to show signs of hope as overdose deaths have decreased from last month’s data. We must do more to lower the number of overdoses. That’s why we are focused on implementing the President’s Strategy to beat the epidemic. That’s also why Congress must act this year to remove barriers to effective treatment and to provide communities the additional resources we need to save to save lives.”

In April, President Biden sent his Administration’s inaugural National Drug Control Strategy to Congress, which delivers on the call to action in his Unity Agenda through a whole-of-government approach to beat the overdose epidemic. It includes targeted actions to expand access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services while reducing the supply of drugs like fentanyl.

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