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Report: More drug overdose deaths happening amid pandemic

Posted at 8:05 AM, May 13, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-13 11:18:18-04

More people are dying of drug overdoses during the pandemic.

It's estimated more than 91,000 people died of an overdose between October 2019 and October 2020 - the highest number of deaths in a 12-month period since tracking started in 1999.

Experts believe this epidemic was jump-started by increased use and abuse of opioid painkillers.