Opioids, Heroin, and Death
Drug overdose deaths and opioid-involved deaths continue to increase in the United States. The majority of drug overdose deaths (more than six out of ten) involve an opioid.1 Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) quadrupled.2 From 2000 to 2015 more than half a million people died from drug overdoses. 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. IN 2016, approximately 54,000 people died from opioid overdoses. That’s more than all the Americans who died in the Vietnam War, more than people killed because of gun violence, car crashes or from HIV/AIDS at the height of the AIDS epidemic. In Connecticut, residents are more likely to die from unintentional drug overdose than a motor vehicle accident/ A majority of these deaths are linked to overdose of prescription opioid painkillers. According to 2013 CDC report, the Connecticut age-adjusted rate for drug induced mortality is 16.4 per 100,000 population compared to the nation rate of 14.6. To find more information and access help for addiction, please don’t hesitate to reach out to local support services and treatment centers.
- Listen to a very interesting interview on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross here.
- Read about increases in drug and opioid-involved overdose deaths in the USA between 2010 – 2015 here.
- Read about what we’re doing in CT here.
