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Monday, Feb. 10, 2025

Does alcohol cause more deaths in the U.S. than any other drug?

Por Jaijongkit, The Colorado Sun
no

Tobacco kills more people in the nation than any other drug, leaving alcohol No. 2 on the list of deadly substances, federal data shows. 

About 480,000 people die of causes linked to cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke in the U.S. annually, while around 178,000 deaths are from alcohol consumption, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

By comparison, about 105,000 people in the U.S. died of overdoses from other drugs in 2023, a recent CDC study found.In Colorado, roughly 5,000 people die annually from smoking-related causes, the American Lung Association estimates.

Roughly 1,530 Coloradans died of causes related to alcohol in 2023, such as alcohol poisoning, alcoholic liver disease and alcohol-related mental or behavioral disorders, state health data shows. 

Colorado saw 1,290 deaths in 2023 from opioids, 1,100 deaths from fentanyl, 810 from methamphetamines and other psychostimulants and 290 from cocaine in 2023.

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