Arthur J. Villasanta – Fourth Estate Contributor
Atlanta, GA, United States (4E) – Drug overdose deaths in the United States continue to spiral out of control with the number of deaths for 2016 higher than that for 2015 by over 17 percent.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the deadly spike in deaths is another sign of the growing addiction crisis caused by opioids, both prescription (such as Oxycontin) and illegal (such as fentanyl and heroin).
CDC data from all 50 states shows that from the fourth quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2016, the rate of fatal drug overdoses rose to nearly 20 people per 100,000 from 16.3 per 100,000. That’s even higher than the gun death rate, which stood at 12 per 100,000 persons in 2016.
CDC previously estimated that some 64,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2016. The states with the highest overdose death rates are New Hampshire, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio and Rhode Island.
Alarmingly, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 years-old, said the CDC. Overdose deaths are being driven by overdoses of synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, rather than heroin, said Dr. Robert Anderson, Chief, Mortality Statistics Branch, National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC.
“The main message is the drug rate went up a lot again, and of course we’re worried about it,” said Dr. Anderson.
The preliminary report on drug deaths covers only 2015 to 2016 because of the complexity of toxicology reports and other information needed to confirm drug overdoses.
Experts said two groups of Americans are getting addicted: an older group overdosing on pain medicine, and a younger group overdosing on illegal opioids.
On a brighter note, CDC said the number of teenagers becoming addicted to pain killers is decreasing. Those already addicted (who are in their 20s and 30s) are more in danger because of the practice of mixing heroin with fentanyl or fentanyl being sold as heroin.
Deaths by fentanyl have increased significantly in three years, according to data from the federal government. China is the main producer and source of illegal fentanyl flooding the U.S.
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