Potent drug supply drop, not domestic drug policies, likely behind 2018 OD death downturn

(University of Pittsburgh) The slight decline in drug overdose deaths in 2018 coincides with Chinese regulations on the powerful opioid carfentanil, rather than the result of domestic U.S. efforts to curb the epidemic, a new analysis reveals. What many - including President Donald Trump - perceived as a decline in overdose deaths in 2018, appears to be a return to the historic exponential curve.