Opioids

Drug overdoses kill more Americans than car crashes, gunshots or aids. In fact, about 840,000 people have died of an overdose since 1999, with a record 94,000 dead last year alone. And 80 percent of overdose deaths are caused by Opioids.

At a current rate of 115 deaths daily, the issue has become one of the most devastating health problems in United States history. Yet media sources have focused instead on covid-19 case counts. Isolation, despair and mental health issues due to covid lockdowns means the Opioid crisis is likely to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin are potent pain-reducing medicines that became popular in the 1990s. Their use has since skyrocketed, with about 255 million Opioid prescriptions written in 2015, roughly 82 for every 100 residents.

Read more at “Opioids: The Crisis Within the Pandemic”