The United States recorded 100,306 deaths from drug overdoses in one year, the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said.
The CDC recorded the 28.5% increase from May 2020 to April 2021, citing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with substance abuse and a more dangerous drug supply as the reasons for the demise.
There were 93,000 overdose deaths in 2020, suggesting a gradual rise.
Why have overdoses become so common?
The latest CDC figures have now made drug overdoses one of the top 10 killers in the US, surpassing car crashes, guns, flu and pneumonia.
Experts blame the rise on an abundance of drugs on the US market such as deadly fentanyl, an opioid that five years ago overtook heroin as the most likely overdose killer.
Dealers often mix fentanyl with methamphetamine, further increasing casualties.
Drug cartels are using Chinese chemicals to mass produce fentanyl and meth across the US, said Anne Milgram, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The DEA seized 12,000 pounds (5,500 kilograms) of fentanyl so far this year, Milgram said.
The coronavirus pandemic has worsened the situation by leaving many users isolated and unable to find treatment for their addictions, officials said.
'A tragic milestone'
US President Joe Biden called the figures "a tragic milestone" in a statement, with officials set to ask Congress for billions of dollars to tackle drug abuse in the country.
"This is unacceptable and it requires an unprecedented response," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the US National Drug Control Policy.
Columbia University drug abuse expert Katherine Keyes called the "devastating" near-30% rise "a magnitude of overdose deaths we haven't seen in this country."
Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, of the University of California in San Francisco, said that the year "2021 is going to be terrible," with experts predicting that the figure will rise even further.
The US states of Vermont, West Virginia and Kentucky saw the largest overdose increases.
