d) Emphasize the importance of ongoing community voice and leadership in the development and implementation of solutions to this public health crisis.
WHAT DO THE NATIONAL DATA SHOW?
National and state opioid estimates are from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 10 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Vital Statistics System. 11 In the figures and tables below, the most recent available data are shown. Opioidmisuse. The opioid misuse rate among non- Hispanic Blacks is similar to the national population rate, about 4 percent. 2 In 2018, 1.2 million non- Hispanic Blacks and 10.3 million people nationally, aged 12 and older, were estimated to have had opioid misuse in the past year. 2 Opioid-related overdose deaths and deaths involving selected drugs by race/ethnicity. The opioid-related overdose death rate for the national population increased from 2.9 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999 12 to 14.9 per 100,000 in 2017 3 —with a large increase in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (synthetic opioids, i.e., fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol) from 2013 to 2017. 3 In 2017, among non-Hispanic Blacks the opioid-related overdose death rate was 12.9 deaths per 100,000 people (Table 1). It was the third highest opioid-related overdose death rate compared to other race/ ethnicities. 13 Synthetic opioids (other thanmethadone). Data suggest that illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids are heavily contributing to current drug overdose deaths in the U.S. 3,14 The fast rise in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in recent years is alarming and data show that the mixing of synthetic opioids with other drugs occur across populations. 15 Synthetic opioids are affecting opioid death rates among non-Hispanic Blacks more severely than other populations. 3,12-13 In 2017, non-Hispanic Blacks had the highest percentages of opioid-related overdose deaths and total drug deaths attributed to synthetic opioids when compared to other race/ethnicities and the national population (Table 1). 13 Synthetic opioids accounted for nearly 70 percent of the opioid-related
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
This issue brief includes information compiled from a variety of sources, including interviews with key informants, federal data, and the peer-reviewed research and policy literature. Key informants were selected for their expertise and current work to reduce opioid misuse and provide treatment and other services in Black/African American communities. They represented a range of roles—including community leader, person with lived experience, peer recovery coach, peer recovery supervisor, executive director and staff of community-based programs, evaluator, researcher, addiction psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, physician, social worker, nurse, and city representative. The information they shared represents a snapshot of what is happening in selected Black/African American communities struggling with opioid misuse and is not a full comprehensive picture of this population across the country. Their direct statements, indicated by italics and quotation marks, are interspersed throughout the document.
Opioids In Black/African American Communities: C ontext
THE OPIOID CRISIS AND THE BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION: AN URGENT ISSUE
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