When a loved one dies from an overdose, many times his/her death certificate is noted as an "accidental overdose"

I suppose that the overdose is "accidental" because dying as a result of using a drug was unintentional. Isn't the real cause of death, addiction? Just as dangerous to life as untreated cancer? Does the death certificate of a morbidly obese person (who may very well suffer from a food addiction) say that the victim died of accidental eating? In this respect, shouldn't the death certficate indicate the victim died of a brain disorder resulting from addiction. 

Victims of addiction use because using is as necessary to survival as is air, food and water. That is the nature of the disease. It's important to understand that a person in the critical stage of addiction is not able to make a choice to use, his or her brain has become rewired to desperately need an addictive substance in order to live.  It's not a matter of wanting a drug but NEEDING it. Not just once in a while but first thing in the morning, last thing at night and all times in between. This "need" consumes your life and nothing else matters. It's quite possible the addict knows that he or she might die as a result of using. You can be sure that every user knows the possibility of fentanyl contamination. Fentanyl strips might be helpful if one is a recreational user but for an addict, it doesn't matter. For certain he/she believes they will die if they don't use. 

Addiction is such a sad, desperate state that there is a possibility that an overdose was a suicide, the only way to get out of this hell which life has become. Victims of addiction cannot see another way out.  There are statistics which show that as much as 30% of accidental overdoses are actually suicides.

In addition to this, couldn't the "accidental overdose" be first or second degree murder? Was the addict sold a drug mixed with fentanyl and did the dealer know this? Of course he/she did! The despair and aloneness of an addict in critical stages of addiction is a nightmare that no one should have to live through.

The term "accidental overdose" is much too nonchalant and undefined. Let's call it what is is.....brain damage secondary to ADDICTION!

Suicide Prediction and Prevention for People at Risk for Opioid Use Disorder (NIH HEAL Initiative) | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)