And they’ve happened:

Deaths from drug overdose in the United States jumped nearly 30 percent in a 12-month period ending in March 2021, according to provisional data released on Wednesday.

The United States saw a record high of 96,779 reported drug overdose deaths, an increase of 29.6 percent in the period of a year from March 2020—coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic— according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.

The corresponding CDC data shows Rhode Island on the bad side of the spectrum, with a 22% increase.  That compares with a 9% increase in Connecticut, a 6% increase in Massachusetts, and a 3% decrease in New Hampshire, although Vermont led the nation at 85%.