CDC Reports Significant Jump In Overdose Deaths Nationwide

This week, the Centers for Disease Control reported a significant increase in overdose deaths in 2020. State experts said it has severely impacted Oklahoma. 

Across the country, 93,000 people died from an overdose in 2020, which is nearly a 30 percent increase from the year before.

Green Country mother Layla Freeman lost her daughter to an overdose in 2013.

"It hurts my heart on a daily basis," Freeman said. "I don't want any other parent to go through what I've gone through personally." 

Freeman said part of her isn't surprised the numbers increasing during the pandemic, but she also said it never gets easier seeing families grieve.

"You're watching them literally slowly die in front of you and then ultimately lose them," Freeman said. "It is something that you'll never overcome."

According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, 1,002 Oklahomans died from an overdose in 2020. The figure is 119 more deaths than the previous state record.

OBN said there was also a 151 percent increase in fentanyl-related overdoses and a 44 percent increase in cocaine overdoses.

Although opioid abuse is leading to a majority of the deaths, meth still has the highest single drug death count in the state at 624.

OBN public information officer Mark Woodward said he hoped the numbers would start declining by the time things returned to normal. However, it’s been the opposite.

"Unfortunately, we're reversing about a six, seven-year period of positive numbers," Woodward said. "We're now going back in the wrong direction again."

Following her daughter's death, Freeman founded Light of Hope, a nonprofit that helps families deal with addiction.

Despite the startling statistics, Freeman is fighting the crisis head-on by proving there is hope and light after addiction. 

"People come to me and they're ready," Freeman said. "They're tired of living that habitual lifestyle. They want help." 

For more information on the nonprofit, click here.