OVERDOSES

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Opioid Abuse Surged During the Pandemic – Treatment is the Answer for Those Now Addicted

There is compelling evidence that suggests opioid addiction and overdose rates soared during the Covid-19 pandemic. Was this a direct result of Covid-19? Or was it a continuation of America’s opioid addiction epidemic?

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Overdoses are On the Rise, And It’s Not Just Opioids Anymore

When people think of America’s addiction epidemic, they almost always think of opioids. And while opioids have certainly played a huge role in the crisis, opioids are not the only drugs that kill—cocaine and methamphetamines are claiming lives as well.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drug Overdose Fatalities Reach 80,000 in One Year

The destructive nature of drug addiction has never been more apparent than it is right now. Recently, the CDC recorded the highest death toll from drug overdoses for any 12-month period. What will it take to curb the rise of drug deaths in America?

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Are We Doing Enough to Eliminate Drug Overdose Deaths?

If three Boeing 737 planes crashed every week from 1999 to the present, the entire country would sit up and take notice. Drastic actions would be taken to prevent further crashes. But that’s how many people we’ve lost to overdoses and our efforts seem...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The Hidden Catastrophe That is America’s Drug Overdose Deaths

It’s possible while our attention has been riveted elsewhere, our drug overdose deaths are escalating out of control. This isn’t a problem we can ignore for long. Or at all.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Scotland’s Drug Fatality Rate

Despite sincere efforts on the part of the Scottish government and its people, over 1,000 Scots still die every year from drug overdoses. Why is the death rate so high? And what might be done to bring the death toll down?

STATISTICS & TRENDS

What Is the Average Age of Someone Who Dies from a Drug Overdose?

While there is no question that the United States is struggling with an addiction crisis of epic proportions, some of the more telling details of the crisis are not broadly discussed. For example, what could we learn by examining what age range of Americans...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Many Cardiac Deaths May Actually Be Drug Overdoses

It’s known that drug and alcohol abuse has a harmful effect on one’s cardiovascular system. However, new data suggests that the real threat of drugs on one's heart may have been entirely underestimated.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

New Report Suggests “Safe” Injection Sites Actually Increase Crime

Controversy has surrounded facilities established to give injecting drug users a safe space with medical supervision in which they can consume their drugs. Up to now, it's been hard to tell if they were truly beneficial or actually harmful. A new report...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Ohio Among Top Four States for Opioid-Related Addictions and Death

We’re a long ways away from being “out of the woods“ when it comes to the opiate epidemic. In states like Ohio, the state with the highest number of opiate deaths in the nation, much work is left to do to combat the harmful effects of opioid addiction.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Important Update for Families from the 2019 Drug Threat Assessment

Every year, the Drug Enforcement Administration reports on the biggest drug threats in our country because those threats never stay the same two years in a row. These annual reports can arm parents with enough information to warn their children of the...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Scotland's Overdose Epidemic – Finding the Correct Solution

Here's an eye-catching headline: “Where the Nurse Prescribes Heroin." One might think it was the headline to a fictional piece, a dystopian essay or novel on what life would be like if full-scale drug use permeated our society.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Opioid Lawsuits – Where Should Settlement Money Go?

An October 2019 article in USA Today focused on how critical it is that opioid lawsuit settlement dollars are used to treat addiction. This should be a given, to use settlements from pharma companies to treat addicts (especially considering that many addicts...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Can We Make REAL Progress on the Drug Crisis in the 2020s?

We have just passed into a new year and a new decade. There is some significance to that. We are saying our goodbyes to 2019 and the 2010s and saying hello to the year 2020 and the new decade of the 2020s. There is much that we need to work on in the new...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Halting the Runaway Train That is Our Opioid Crisis: Can We Do it?

It may seem like an impossible task to halt the runaway train of our opioid crisis. But Oklahoma has prepared a plan to do just that which can serve as a model for other states and let us estimate the price tag to eliminate this catastrophe.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Retired Navy Admiral Is Working to Prevent Drug Overdoses

The media is so often filled with unhappy circumstances, lousy news, hardships, and unpleasant events. That’s what sells. So when USA Today featured an interview with a retired U.S. Navy admiral about a non-profit that he and his wife started to counter...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Why Doesn’t the U.S. Treat Overdose Deaths Like Other Preventable Causes of Death?

Though it might be a morbid prospect to do so, one of the reasons why it is so essential to study and analyze causes of death is because doing so sets the stage for creating better health conditions in America.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drug Deaths, Suicide, and a Three-Year Drop in Life Expectancy - What Does It Mean?

One of the most telling indicators of the overall health of a nation’s population is its life expectancy. When a population’s life expectancy improves, this is a sign of overall improvement for that country. When a country’s life expectancy falls,...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

What if Car Crashes Increased at the Same Rate as Drug Overdoses? What Would Public Reaction Be Then?

While drug overdose deaths climbed from 16,800 to more than 70,000 over a 20 year period, was America’s response appropriately strong and determined? If not, why not?

STATISTICS & TRENDS

One Year of Overdose Death Decreases: How Good is This News?

For the first time in decades, the number of Americans lost to drug overdoses has begun to decline. Is this cause for celebration? Not yet. Not when you know the reason for the decline. Did you hear about this? For the last year, the number of overdose...