New CDC figures reveal another significant increase in drug overdose deaths – a bleak sign that efforts to control the epidemic are failing.
The number of Americans who died in 2016 and the first months of 2017 from a drug overdose hit 64,765, which is up more than 10,000 from the same figure from 2015.
Territories that had the steepest increases in overdose deaths were Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland and North Dakota. And only nine states saw their rates decrease from 2015 to 2016.
The figures are consistent with the grim findings of recent reports that reflect the seriousness of America’s opioid crisis, which President Trump has deemed a ‘national emergency’.
Experts are blaming the rise on a lack of education about opioids and inaccessible treatment options.
They are also warning that the crisis is likely going to get worse before it gets better because – no matter what measures states take now to decrease drug overdose death rates – the epidemic has already taken effect.
