For the third year in a row, drug-related overdoses and poisoning deaths have declined in Los Angeles County, a decline officials attribute to continued investments in prevention and harm reduction statewide.
There were 2,298 accidental drug overdose and poisoning deaths in 2025, down 6 percent, a slight decrease from 2,438 the previous year but a significant decrease from the 3,220 deaths nationwide in 2022, according to the latest report from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Drug overdoses continue to be the leading cause of accidental death nationwide – more than deaths from motor vehicle crashes and firearms in 2017 combined – with methamphetamine and fentanyl often implicated in drug overdoses.
The problem reached a historic high in 2022 when fentanyl surpassed methamphetamine as the most common drug listed as a cause of overdose death. During that time, the number of overdoses generally increased across the board.
However, these accidental deaths have been on a downward trend, with nearly a 30% overall decline in drug-related overdoses from 2022 to 2025. Fentanyl-related deaths decreased by 40% and methamphetamine-related deaths decreased by 25% during that time.
Officials said in the report that these figures are far from 2024, when overdose deaths were down 22 percent, which they said “shows progress in the District’s efforts to address the drug overdose problem.”
“Three consecutive years of low overdose deaths in LA County is proof that continued investments in prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery save lives,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in a statement.
Ferrer recommended continued cuts to outreach workers and community partners “who work every day to connect people to treatment, distribute life-saving naloxone and meet people where they are without judgment.”
The department continues to invest in a coordinated program of drug overdose prevention efforts in the community including Fentanyl Frontline – a multimedia campaign focused on the widespread distribution of naloxone – and ByLAforLA.org, a community-funded platform that connects citizens with life-saving services with the goal of reducing stigma.
The health department report also found:
- Excess deaths in Los Angeles County decreased for all age groups by 2025 but deaths among adults 65 and older increased by 14%.
- Although older adults account for only 11% of all overdose deaths, this increase is in contrast to the broad decline seen in all age groups, according to the report.
- Those between the ages of 40 and 64 remain the most affected group, accounting for 53% of people who have died from an overdose in the past year.
- Communities with 30% of residents living below the federal poverty level had higher drug overdose deaths than communities with less than 10% of families living below the federal poverty level.
- By race, Black residents continued to have the highest number of overdose deaths in 2025.
- By gender, a persistent disparity still exists, with men having the highest number of overdose deaths, about 1,800 compared to 500 deaths among women.
Nationally, opioid overdose deaths have been on the decline since mid-2023, driven largely by a drop in fentanyl-related deaths, but the numbers remain above pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent report by KFF, a national health policy organization.
KFF said a number of policy actions have contributed to the decline, including efforts to increase access to treatment and anti-retroviral drugs and public awareness campaigns. At the federal level, there have been some efforts to reduce the problem including improving the detection of fentanyl at ports and borders.
“Despite the progress, many recent federal policy actions may affect future trends, including federal budget cuts, reductions in federal employees, and reductions in federal grants that support state and local programs; reductions in Medicaid and Marketplace coverage; and a shift to a more focused approach to law enforcement, including the designation of illegal fentanyl as a ‘Terror Weapon,'” according to the Mass report.
Los Angeles County residents can access substance abuse services 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling (800) 854-7771, select Option 2 after the language prompt.
