More Americans are Overdosing on Drugs Than Ever — CDC

The largest increase in narcotic overdose deaths were from synthetic narcotics, not including methadone. From 2000 to 2014 almost half a million persons in the United States have died from drug overdoses. The increases occurred in all demographics, regardless of age or gender.

And as physicians and public health officials have succeeded in persuading doctors to prescribe fewer opioids, those who are seeking them – particularly those already dependent on opioids – may be turning to other, more risky sources, Ballantyne said. “This is a big win for the opioid lobby”, said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, co-founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, a group that wants to see less use of painkillers by doctors, according to the AP.

That states that saw significantly increased drug overdose deaths in 2014 when compared to 2013.

Heroin-related death rates increased 26 percent from 2013-2014, the latest study found. There were 10,574 such deaths a year ago.

According to the report, rates of drug overdose deaths were highest in five states: West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio.

The CDC is now in the midst of a battle over prescription drugs.

The CDC report described the drug overdose deaths as an “emerging threat to public health and safety”.

“Since 2000, the rate of deaths from drug overdoses has increased 137%, including a 200% increase in the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids (opioid pain relievers and heroin)”, the CDC reports.

Drug overdoses in 2014 increased 6.5 percent from 2013 and claimed 47,005 lives. They said sales of prescription opioids rose by 300 percent since 1999.

“Although efforts to reduce reliance on opioids for the treatment of chronic pain did reduce abuse and death initially, that reduction is probably overwhelmed by the thousands of people who have already become dependent on opioids through pain treatment”, Ballantyne said. The evidence-based initiative focuses on three promising areas: informing opioid prescribing practices, increasing the use of naloxone, and using Medication-Assisted Treatment to move people out of opioid addiction. Using these drugs results in an increased tolerance to pain and a sense of euphoria.

More Americans are using opiate painkillers: Research suggests that one of the reasons that abusing opiates can make people more susceptible to future heroin abuse is because the drugs act similarly in the brain.

“Heroin is bad enough, but when you lace it with fentanyl, it’s like dropping a nuclear bomb on the situation”, Mary Lou Leary, a deputy director in the White House’s office of National Drug Control Policy, told NPR.