A deadly crisis: mapping the spread of America's drug overdose epidemic
Overdoses kill more Americans than car crashes or guns – and experts say the crisis hasn’t yet peaked
The Guardian (UK)
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
America is in the midst of an unprecedented drug overdose epidemic. Nationally, overdose deaths have more than doubled over the past decade and a half, driven largely by opioids – initially prescription painkillers, but increasingly heroin. Today, more Americans die from drug overdoses than car crashes or gun fatalities. In all, drug overdoses killed 47,000 people in the US in 2014. That’s 130 deaths per day, on average. The majority of those deaths – 29,000, or 80 per day – involved an opioid. (See also: Americans are increasingly addicted to opioids. People in poor countries die in agony without them)
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