Opioid painkillers accounted for a nine percent increase of deaths in 2014 to 813 people.
Advertisement
The Office of National Drug Control Policy, which held its first of several community forums on opioid misuse this week, echoed the CDC’s concern that the rise in fentanyl-related deaths comes predominantly from increases in illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
More men and women of almost all ages, as well whites and blacks, are dying from drug overdoses, the researchers found. In October, Gov. Snyder, under the state’s newly formed Michigan Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Task Force, released more than two dozen recommendations to tackle state’s drug abuse ‘crisis.
Historically, CDC has programmatically characterized all opioid pain reliever deaths (natural and semisynthetic opioids, methadone, and other synthetic opioids) as “prescription” opioid overdoses.
Heroin deaths also went up by 26% since 2013 with more than 10,000 people dead by 2014.
The United States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose (poisoning) deaths, according to the CDC.
The CDC is also taking action, attempting to draft new legislation that would make it harder for people to gain access to opiate drugs, encouraging other methods of managing pain to be tried first. CDC report reads. “In 2014, there were approximately one and a half times more drug overdose deaths in the United States than deaths from motor vehicles crashes”.
“To curb these trends and save lives, we must help prevent addiction and provide support and treatment to those who suffer from opioid use disorders”, said Frieden. Since the turn of the century, the rate of deaths from overdoses has skyrocketed 137 percent, while the rate for deaths involving opioids has jumped 200 percent.
Both drugs work in similar ways, and when addicts are unable to get prescription medications to feed their habit, many turn to heroin, which is often cheap and accessible. According to figures the CDC released Friday in its “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report“, 61 percent of those deaths involved opioids, including prescribed pain relievers, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and heroin.
Advertisement
Abuse of prescription narcotic painkillers is the biggest risk factor for going on to use heroin – especially among young adults, the CDC found. “In addition, efforts are needed to protect persons already dependent on opioids from overdose and other harms”. Of those deaths, there was a 14 percent increase from opioid use overdoses involving painkillers and heroin.
