Drug overdose deaths spiked during the first few months of the 2020 pandemic-related lockdowns, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 83,500 people died from an overdose in the 12-month period ending July 2020—an average of 228 deaths per day. It’s the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded, and the final number, which is up 24 percent over the same period in the year prior, is expected to be even higher. The CDC issued an emergency health advisory on Dec. 17, 2020, alerting public health workers to the acceleration of overdose fatalities in lockstep with widespread shutdowns. “This represents a worsening of the drug overdose epidemic in the United States,” the CDC stated. An analysis by the Well Being Trust in May 2020 estimates a possible 75,000 additional “deaths of despair,” including suicide as well as drug and alcohol abuse over …