Fentanyl pushes US drug deaths to record levels with 93,000 fatal overdoses last year
A record number of people died of a drug overdose in the US last year, according to government estimates.
The death toll of 93,000 is a big increase from the 72,000 estimate in the previous year, and it means there were more than 250 deaths each day, roughly 11 every hour.
Only two states – New Hampshire and South Dakota – did not see an increase in drug overdose deaths.
Kentucky saw a 54% increase to more than 2,100 and Vermont was up 58% – from 118 to 186, with large increases also seen in South Carolina, West Virginia, and California.
There is no evidence that more Americans started using drugs last year but the deaths were more likely to be among those who were already struggling with their addiction, according to Shannon Monnat, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University.
Prof Monnat, who researches geographic patterns in overdoses, said some addicts also told her that, when benefits were extended and evictions were paused as part of government pandemic measures, they had more money to feed their addiction.
Lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions left addicts isolated and made it more difficult for them to get treatment.
Needle exchange programmes, opioid substitution therapy, safe injection sites, support groups, and therapy sessions were all curtailed by social distancing and stay-at-home orders.
Jordan McGlashen, left, and his brother, Collin
Jordan McGlashen died after overdosing on heroin and fentanyl in his Michigan apartment in May last year, a day before his 39th birthday.
The musician had seen his father die of cancer a few months earlier and had also lost his job in the early days of the pandemic.
His brother Collin said: “He was alone, and suffering emotionally and felt like he had to use again.”
“Someone can be doing really well for so long and then, in a flash, deteriorate.
“It was really difficult for me to think about the way in which Jordan died.”
Decades ago, overdoses were driven by prescription painkillers but they were overtaken by heroin, with around 7,200 deaths in 1970.
By 1988, crack cocaine was the drug of choice and there were about 9,000 overdose deaths.
Then fentanyl took over and it is thought to have been involved in more than 60% of overdose deaths last year, with opioids overall blamed for 74.7%.
Fentanyl, which is 80-100 times stronger than morphine, was made to treat pain from illnesses such as cancer but it is now mixed with other drugs and sold illicitly.
It is too soon for national figures covering 2021 but state data so far indicates that fentanyl is continuing to push up the number of drug overdose deaths.
Rhode Island reported 34 in January and 37 in February – the most for those months in at least five years.
Prof Monnat said: “What’s really driving the surge in overdoses is this increasingly poisoned drug supply.
“Nearly all of this increase is fentanyl contamination in some way. Heroin is contaminated. Cocaine is contaminated. Methamphetamine is contaminated.”
TikTok is to be banned in the US from Sunday if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company, the Supreme Court has ruled.
However, President Joe Biden has said he will not enforce the ban for the few remaining hours he is in office, leaving it up to Donald Trump to decide what to do when he enters the White House on Monday.
After the Supreme Court ruling, where the judges voted 9-0 in favour of the ban, the White House released a statement saying TikTok should remain available to Americans.
“TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,” the White House said in a statement.
Analysis: America flinches as TikTok prepares to ‘go dark’ – will Trump save the day?
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Why is TikTok getting banned in the US?
The US’s top judges were deciding whether to overturn the ban after hearing appeals from TikTok creators and its lawyers.
US officials banned the app over concerns its parent company could give data on American citizens to the Chinese government. TikTok’s owners Bytedance have repeatedly said they won’t sell the social media platform.
President-elect Donald Trump also tried to get the ban delayed, so he could make a decision on it once he was in office.
However, the Supreme Court has decided to stick with the original ban.
Now, one day before Mr Trump returns to the White House, the social media app used by 170 million Americans will be banned.
File pic: Reuters
What happens on Sunday?
On Sunday, a few things could happen, especially now President Biden has said he will not enforce the ban.
There could be a quick beheading, with TikTok itself as the executioner.
There are reports the company will pull the plug for US users. When they attempt to open the app, people will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, Reuters is reporting.
At a Supreme Court hearing last week, TikTok’s lawyer said the app would “go dark” in the US if the ban came into force.
Although there are a lot of American TikTok users, more than 1.5 billion people use TikTok worldwide, so the company could well decide it can manage without its US influencers.
If Mr Trump decides to enforce the ban, there could be a slow, painful death for TikTok in the US, where companies including Apple and Google take it off their app stores.
That will mean no new users can download the app and there won’t be any updates.
The app will slowly get clunkier and buggier and US creators will start to disappear.
Or, the president-elect will work out a way of stopping the ban coming into force.
Pic: Reuters
Will Donald Trump save US TikTok?
Mr Trump gets into the White House the day after the ban begins.
He is now a big fan of TikTok with more than 14.8 million followers. He even credited the app with helping him win back the presidency.
He may try to undermine the ban, but he does not have the power to overturn it.
He could, however, say he won’t enforce it, and promise app store hosts such as Apple and Google they will not be prosecuted if they keep the app on their platforms.
Whether those major companies will want to take the risk of ignoring a legal ban is up for debate, however.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, Mr Trump said he would make a decision quickly on how to deal with TikTok but he “must have time to review the situation”.
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Devotees of TikTok gather in Washington as the ban was passed in 2024. File pic: AP
What is happening to US TikTok users?
US TikTokers have already started to migrate, with many heading to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, which topped the US App Store this week.
In just two days, more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu, according to Reuters.
“They’re trying to give a big middle finger to the establishment,” Chinese RedNote user William Wang told Sky News, after he watched the app flood with Americans using the hashtag #TikTokRefugees.
“They’re rebellious, they’re going to go on a very Chinese application, not just TikTok, an entirely Chinese ecosystem.”
For the users not heading to RedNote, the more traditional apps are waiting in the wings.
Read more:
What is RedNote?
Social media expert Adam Tinworth told Sky News the last time a major country banned TikTok, in India in 2020, it was not start-ups who benefitted – despite “a bunch” trying to fill the gap.
He said: “Because Meta had its Reels project ready and Alphabet had Shorts in YouTube, the vast majority of the activity on TikTok just gravitated towards those two platforms.”
When the ban was being discussed last year, Mr Trump said one of his issues was that the ban would send more people to Mark Zuckerberg’s apps.
“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” he said in March 2024.
Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony is to be moved indoors due to cold weather forecast for Washington DC on Monday.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president-elect said he will now take the oath of office inside the Capitol Rotunda building, where dignitaries and guests will gather and prayers and other speeches will also be delivered.
It means the roughly 250,000 people who were ticketed to view the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds will no longer be able to do so.
Thousands more were expected to be in general admission areas or to line the route from the Capitol Building to the White House.
A guide to everything that will happen on 20 January
Mr Trump said the Capitol One Arena in Washington will open for a live viewing of his swearing-in ceremony and to host the Presidential Parade.
“I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my swearing-in,” he said.
Outlining the reasons for the inauguration to be moved in doors, he said: “The weather forecast for Washington DC, with the wind chill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows.
“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.
“It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of law enforcement, first responders, police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th.
“In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly.”
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Mr Trump wrote that all other events from his inauguration day will “remain the same”, including the Victory Rally at the Capital One Arena on Sunday and all three Inaugural Balls on Monday evening.
He added in his Truth Social post: “Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
A spokesperson for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) said in a statement that it will “honour the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the U.S. Capitol to the Rotunda”.
Preparations were under way for the presidential inauguration to take place outdoors. Pic: Reuters
The last time a swearing-in ceremony was held indoors was Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985. Monday’s forecast suggests the lowest inauguration day temperatures since that day.
The National Weather Service is predicting the temperature to be around -6C at noon during the swearing-in, the coldest since Mr Reagan’s second inauguration saw temperatures plunge to -14C.
Barack Obama’s 2009 swearing-in was -2C. Adding to the bite, the wind is forecast to be 30 to 35mph.
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If you think TikTok is messing with the heads of young people, consider what it’s been doing to America’s most powerful adults.
Last March, Congress voted overwhelmingly to ban the app on American soil unless a US buyer was found.
Despite claims or speculation that anyone from Elon Musk to MrBeast might be buyers, a deal has yet to emerge, with TikTok maintaining it’s not for sale.
Read more: TikTok to be banned in the US from Sunday, Supreme Court rules
Now, the US Supreme Court has dismissed legal challenges against the ban by the company and its users that said the new law would violate US free speech laws.
As things currently stand, the ban will take effect on January 19th, with TikTok saying the app will “go dark” in the US on Sunday.
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Why is TikTok getting banned in the US?
But will it?
Outgoing US President Joe Biden and his successor Donald Trump, who both originally backed the ban, are siding against it.
Mr Biden has said he will not allow prosecutions for violations of the ban during his last 36 hours in office.
Mr Trump has indicated he will use an executive order to effectively suspend the ban until a US buyer is found.
You can almost hear the chuckles in the corridors of the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
Though owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, TikTok has never been available in China.
Pic: Reuters
It was the US Congress that decided the app was (delete as appropriate to your level of paranoia): distracting; influencing; spying on; brainwashing American youth.
Yet it looks as if Mr Biden’s last day in office may be overshadowed by 170 million, mostly young, Americans opening their favourite app to be confronted with a blank screen – and blaming him for it.
And Mr Trump celebrating his inauguration with the chief executive of TikTok Shou Zi Chew, but without his 14.8 million followers on TikTok.
Not to mention the seven million US businesses, according to TikTok, that profit from the platform having to hawk their wares on Facebook, Instagram and X and understandably wondering about the fairness of it all.
It’s looking as if America called TikTok’s bluff and it simply “swiped up”, threatening to take all the dances, trends, memes and marketing opportunities with it.
And America has flinched.
TikTok users protest against the ban. File pic: AP
So what happens now?
TikTok may accept the reassurance of Mr Trump and keep the app running in the US. But it’s a legally precarious position for a company as it would still be in breach of US law.
According to incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, team Trump will “keep TikTok alive… if there is a viable deal”.
But what does that even look like?
TikTok’s success is largely based on its technology.
Its algorithm is famous (or infamous, depending on whether you are a teenager or parent) in social media for its ability to feed users content that keeps them glued to the app.
A powerful AI curates the “For You” page that tailors videos, not just based on content a particular user views, but the faces, video length, text and topics it thinks they will like.
The company has key patents on automatic music generation and various filters that help users create videos.
While it has a hefty 170 million users in the US, it has more than 1.4 billion more worldwide.
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ByteDance has indicated that TikTok’s algorithm is not up for sale, nor, it’s reasonable to assume, are the rest of its patents.
Why would it give up all that for a fraction – albeit a lucrative one – of its overall market?
It seems unlikely a potential US buyer would pay much just to own TikTok’s platform and its list of US users if it had no way of offering them the same experience they enjoyed on the app before.
ByteDance (and the Chinese government which would have to approve the deal) could be persuaded to sell the app in its entirety to a US entity.
But the price is expected to be high: in the region of $100bn, which would be steep for even America’s richest tech titans.
That said, a deal could happen.
Mr Trump has announced he discussed TikTok on a call with China’s premier Xi Jinping.
Has the app become an unexpected pawn in US-China relations?
Keen to avoid punitive tariff’s threatened by Mr Trump, Beijing may be willing to let TikTok go.
Mr Trump may help close the deal, win favour with 170 million young voters, and gain powerful leverage over yet another social media platform.
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