Fentanyl Most Commonly Used Drug Involved in Overdose Deaths

Fentanyl was involved in almost 29 percent of all overdose deaths in 2016, making it the most commonly used drug involved in overdose fatalities, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The rate of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl jumped by about 113 percent each year from 2013 through 2016, CNN reports.

The total number of drug overdose deaths increased 54 percent each year between 2011 and 2016. There were 63,632 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2016.

Most overdoses involved more than one drug, the CDC found. Two-fifths of cocaine-related overdose deaths in 2016 also involved fentanyl, and almost one-third of fentanyl-related overdoses also involved heroin. More than one-fifth of meth-related fatal overdoses also involved heroin.