Substance Abuse In America 2024. Overdose rates in the united states have reached alarming levels in recent years, fueled primarily by opioids, including both prescription pain medications. In 2022, 48.7 million people aged 12 or older (or 17.3%) had a substance use disorder (sud) in the past year, including 29.5 million who had an alcohol use.

It affects nearly 50 million people. From 2021 to 2022, the rate of drug overdose deaths involving cocaine increased 12.3% (from 7.3 to 8.2) and the rate for deaths involving psychostimulants.