Drug overdoses soared to a record 93,000 last year Lenny Bernstein and Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post July 14, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail Paul Harkin, director of harm reduction at GLIDE speaks with people on a popular alley way with drug users in the Tenderloin neighborhood to handout narcan, fentanyl detection packets and tinfoil to those drug users in need as a part of outreach on the streets of San Francisco, Calif. on Feb. 3 2020.Nick Otto / The Washington Post via Getty Images WASHINGTON - Deaths from drug overdoses soared to more than 93,000 last year, a staggering record that reflects the coronavirus pandemic's toll on efforts to quell the crisis and the continued spread of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in the illegal narcotic supply, the government reported Wednesday.