The count includes deaths involving powerful painkillers, sedatives, heroin, cocaine and other legal and illicit drugs.
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About 9% of these cases (or an increase of more than 750 deaths) were caused by opioid pain relievers including hydrocodone and oxycodone. Deaths attributable to these drugs rose by nine percent from 2013 to 2014.
This month, Rolling Stone published a letter by the ex-wife of American musician Scott Weiland, who overdosed on drugs, titled “Scott Weiland’s Family: ‘Don’t Glorify This Tragedy.'” USA Today recently highlighted parents of an 18-year-old girl who died after a heroin overdose because they used her obituary to raise awareness about opioid addiction.
The alarming rise, which the CDC calls an epidemic in their report, is attributed in large part to opioids, such as certain pain relievers and heroin. “To control these tendencies and save lives, we have to assist in preventing dependency and offer support and treatment to individuals who have problems with opioid use disorders”.
In light of the data, the CDC is pushing further to decrease the availability of opioids, and is encouraging law enforcement to crack down on possession offenses in that fight.
The United States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose (poisoning) deaths. Prescription drugs like morphine, codeine and illegal heroin made up 61 percent of drug-related deaths in 2014, according to the CDC.
Drug overdose deaths increased 137 percent since 2000, hitting an all-time high in 2014.
The report said there were approximately one and half times more drug overdose deaths in the USA in 2014 than deaths from motor vehicle crashes.
“One in 100 people will die in this state of an opioid overdose”. Before, the growing trend for overdose death was related to misuse and overuse of opioid.
Overdose deaths are up in both men and women, in non-Hispanic whites and blacks, and in adults of almost all ages, said the report. Some studies conducted in past has shown that prescribed opioids often lead to the use of drugs like heroin. “In addition, efforts are needed to protect persons already dependent on opioids from overdose and other harms”.
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Recommendations ranged from working to better track prescriptions, and marking the overdose antidote drug, known as Narcan, more widely available. The evidence-based initiative focuses on three promising areas: informing opioid prescribing practices, increasing the use of naloxone, and using Medication-Assisted Treatment to move people out of opioid addiction.
