US Street Drug Prices Plunge Over 90% in 20 Years as Overdose Deaths Hit 80,000
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 24
US Street Drug Prices Plunge Over 90% in 20 Years as Overdose Deaths Hit 80,000
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 24
Summary
$10 bought five fentanyl pills in 2025—potency equal to 20 bags of 1980s heroin—showing how much cheaper and stronger U.S. street opioids have become.
Over the past two decades, the cost of getting high on opioids fell more than 90%, undercutting the war on drugs strategy that aimed to curb use by pushing prices up.
Drug prices dropped even as everyday goods got costlier: $10 bought eight Big Macs in 1981 but not even two last year, highlighting how unusually cheap illicit drugs have become.
Overdose deaths rose from 6,700 in 1972 to 80,000 in 2024, with cheap, widely available ultra-potent drugs cited as a major driver.
While everyday goods inflate, $10 now buys synthetic opioids equal to 20 bags of 1980s heroin. How did illicit markets completely defy economic inflation?
With extreme user tolerance rendering traditional treatments ineffective, how can health systems combat a synthetic drug crisis that keeps getting cheaper and stronger?
If decades of supply disruption failed to stop drug prices from collapsing, is it time to completely rethink our approach to synthetic drug prohibition?