Overshadowed by the opioid crisis: A comeback by cocaine
It’s the No. 2 killer among illicit drugs in the U.S. and kills more African-Americans than heroin does
The New York Times (US)
Monday, March 5, 2018
Monday, March 5, 2018
The opioid epidemic just keeps getting worse, presenting challenges discussed at length at a White House summit last week. But opioids are not America’s only significant drug problem. Among illicit drugs, cocaine is the No. 2 killer and claims the lives of more African-Americans than heroin does. According to a recent study published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, among non-Hispanic black Americans, cocaine has been a larger problem than heroin for nearly 20 years. For example, over 2012-15, cocaine overdoses claimed 7.6 per 100,000 black men. In contrast, heroin overdoses claimed 5.45 per 100,000 black men. Black women use both drugs at lower rates than men, but cocaine overdoses exceed those from heroin for them as well.
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