A report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), prior to the federal government shutdown in October 2025 and the subsequent reductions in force gutting CDC staff, showed an overall 24% decline in U.S. drug overdose deaths from September 2023 to September 2024. It could be a long wait for the 2024-25 numbers.

The decline in overdose death rates began in January 2021, at the beginning of the Joe Biden administration, and continued declining steadily until the end of 2024. One major reason for the decline in drug overdose deaths is the widespread distribution of naloxone (Narcan), along with training on how to use it.

In 2023, according to the CDC, there were approximately 105,007 drug overdose deaths. Three-quarters of those deaths involved opioids. In the majority of those 80,000 opioid overdose deaths, the drug user was alone, with no one to call for help or resuscitate them.

However, in 43% of opioid overdose deaths, someone was present to assist. If the drug user carries Narcan, other persons present can quickly administer a life-saving dosage. Living is the first step in recovery. The widespread distribution of naloxone — along with training and information on how to use it — probably saved 30,000 lives from September 2023 through September 2024.

It’s rare to run a public health program in the U.S. that has such verifiable, dramatic results. So of course it is being targeted for elimination:

[T]he Trump administration plans to terminate a $56 million annual grant program that distributes [Narcan] doses and trains emergency responders in communities across the country to administer them, according to a draft budget proposal.

The quote originates from The New York Times article on the draft budget republished by the Psychiatry Department at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. The article explains that the proposed elimination of the Narcan funding will be “among many addiction prevention and treatment programs to be zeroed out.”

It seems that the current administration is doing everything in its power to turn back the decline in overdose deaths and eliminate even the most proven and effective government public health programs. Here are some of the changes recommended or already enacted regarding addiction treatment:

• $11 billion in grants already awarded for 2025 was frozen.
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was defunded.
• The overall Health and Human Services (HHS) funding was reduced by 40%

A quick glance at the Overdose Death Map indicates it will be “red states” that lean heavily Republican in U.S. federal elections that will lose the most under the proposed budget. Fortunately, a group of them is banding together to advocate locally and federally for continued addiction treatment support.

The Southeast Addiction Recovery Coalition (SEARCH) was formed on October 16, 2025, when 200 addiction treatment advocates from 12 southern U.S. states met online. The group is taking a page out of the old Tea Party Patriot playbook that encouraged regional health cooperatives in an effort to ward off a national healthcare plan.

There are many examples of states using these cooperatives to allocate water and other shared resources that impact an entire region. SEARCH leaders are right to be concerned that their resources are about to be gutted, and they need to speak with one voice to preserve addiction treatment funding for this hard-hit region.

Later this week, I will look at states such as North Carolina and Arkansas to see how they are dealing with the disappearing budget for addiction treatment. It’s forcing every state to focus on best practices and hope they can weather the cuts without a dramatic shift in public health outcomes.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published October 27, 2025.

Sources:

“CDC Reports Nearly 24% Decline in U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control news release, February 25, 2025.

“‘It’s scary to think I could have died’ — the Americans coming back from fentanyl addiction,” BBC, October 17, 2025.

“Trump Budget Draft Ends Narcan Program and Other Addiction Measures,” The New York Times, April 25, 2025.

“Trump Budget Draft Ends Narcan Program and Other Addiction Measures,” University of Arizona College of Medicine, April 25, 2025.

“Drug Overdose Deaths: Facts and Figures,” National Institute on Drug Abuse, August 2024.

“12 states form Southeast Addiction Recovery Coalition to represent survivors in Congress,” Georgia Public Broadcasting, October 21, 2025.

Image courtesy of the Southeast Addiction Recovery Coalition.