Drug Overdose Hits Record High

According to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of drug overdose deaths in the Granite State increased from 203 to 334 cases, an increase of 73.5 percent year to year. The worst thing to note is that opioids are involved in 61% of all drug overdose deaths, which is highly prescribed by doctors. Since the turn of the century, the rate of deaths from overdoses has skyrocketed 137 percent, while the rate for deaths involving opioids has jumped 200 percent.

Increases in prescription opioid pain reliever and heroin deaths are the biggest driver of the drug overdose epidemic.

Going by numbers, the most populous state in the US, California, had the most overdose deaths in the year 2014 amounting to more than 4,500.

Illicitly made fentanyl, a short-acting opioid that is sometimes added to heroin and can make it far more potent, is believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths per year.

The alarming rise, which the CDC calls an epidemic in their report, is attributed in large part to opioids, such as certain pain relievers and heroin. “This report also shows how important it is that law enforcement intensify efforts to reduce the availability of heroin, illegal fentanyl, and other illegal opioids”.

The five states with the highest rates of overdose are West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Ohio. In 2014 alone, drug overdoses killed more than 47,000 people-a 7% increase from the previous year-and the most of any year on the CDC’s record.

The total number of deaths linked to drug overdose has doubled since 2000 and has increased 14% from 2013 to 2014. Since 2000, overdoses from opioids have quadrupled, the report noted. Before, the growing trend for overdose death was related to misuse and overuse of opioid. Most heroin users initially start by using prescription painkillers.

Given that the count represents a spike across all demographics-for adults in every age range, for both women and men, and for blacks and non-Hispanic whites alike-the report should certainly be viewed as worrisome. In October, Gov. Snyder, under the state’s newly formed Michigan Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Task Force, released more than two dozen recommendations to tackle state’s drug abuse ‘crisis. Since the turn of the century nearly half a million people have lost their lives as a result of a drug overdose. Learn more at www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose. At the same time, deaths from heroin overdose had tripled since 2010.