Opioid abuse propels record overdose deaths in US

Over 47,000 people died from drug overdoses, marking a 14 percent increase over one year. Deaths from heroin overdoses rose 26%. 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 US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has published an alarming report, warning of an unprecedented drug overdose “epidemic” plaguing the United States.

Over the past year, obituaries spotlighting victims of drug addiction have put faces to these statistics.

In the same vein, recent exposés by the New York Times and NJ.com have shone a light on the pervasive use of heroine in suburban communities like Staten Island, New York and parts of New Jersey.

The five states with the highest rates of overdose are West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Ohio. Half a million people in the United States have died from drug overdoses since 2000, according to the CDC.

Overdose deaths are up in both men and women, in non-Hispanic whites and blacks, and in adults of almost all ages, said the report. These deaths increased by 9 percent (813 more deaths in 2014 than 2013).

During the last 15 years the rate of abuse among prescription opioids has also raised, just as it was the case with illicit opioids like heroin. It’s also the most drug overdoses reported in the United States since 1970.

According to the CDC, widespread availability of illegally produced synthetic opioids and inadequate treatment programs are to blame for the “worsening” epidemic. But the pushback has been hard from patients, doctors and the drug industry, as well as groups such as the U.S. Pain Foundation and the American Academy of Pain Management. Opioids are involved in 61% of all drug overdose deaths. “To curb these trends and save lives, we must help prevent addiction and provide support and treatment to those who suffer from opioid use discords”.

Butler County officials have also seen a switch from the more tightly regulated prescription painkillers to the cheaper, more accessible heroin, the report said. People with the highest risk of using heroin are those who became dependent or who abused prescription opioids during the past year.