Menerva Lindsen
Active Member
- Dec 18, 2014
- 231
- 23
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that 2,000 more people died from heroin-related deaths in 2013 than in 2012, as prescription painkillers became harder to obtain and led to a rise in cheaper, illicit street drugs.
Data released by the CDC on Monday shows that heroin-related deaths surged from 5,925 in 2012 to 8,257 in 2013 – an increase of 39 percent. Overall, deaths from drug overdoses increased to 43,982 from 41,340 during the same period. The rise has been attributed to changes in laws over prescription opioids, causing many painkiller users to look for other options.
"These troubling statistics illustrate a grim reality: that drug, and particularly opioid abuse, represents a growing public health crisis," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that the number of people who had used heroin rose from 2012 to 2013.
One of the recent solutions to the rise in overdose deaths has been to have local police carry naloxone, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. The World Health Organization estimated earlier this month that naloxone could save as many as 20,000 lives every year. States like New York and Maine have also increased the number of law enforcement agents tasked with drug enforcement while they have expanded naloxone access.
Advocate groups for community based programs, such as the Drug Policy Alliance, applaud the increased distribution of naloxone to police, but also hope community groups are included.
There are hundreds of photos on the web of US troops guarding poppy fields and opium farmers in Afghanistan. 'The U.S. military has allowed poppy cultivation to continue in order to appease farmers and government officials involved with the drug trade' UN: 'cultivation of poppy across the war-torn nation rose 36 per cent in 2013 and total opium production amounted to 5,500 tons, up by almost a half since 2012.' “This has never been witnessed before in the history of Afghanistan,” said Jean-Luc Lemahieu, the outgoing leader of the Afghanistan office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Data released by the CDC on Monday shows that heroin-related deaths surged from 5,925 in 2012 to 8,257 in 2013 – an increase of 39 percent. Overall, deaths from drug overdoses increased to 43,982 from 41,340 during the same period. The rise has been attributed to changes in laws over prescription opioids, causing many painkiller users to look for other options.
"These troubling statistics illustrate a grim reality: that drug, and particularly opioid abuse, represents a growing public health crisis," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that the number of people who had used heroin rose from 2012 to 2013.
One of the recent solutions to the rise in overdose deaths has been to have local police carry naloxone, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. The World Health Organization estimated earlier this month that naloxone could save as many as 20,000 lives every year. States like New York and Maine have also increased the number of law enforcement agents tasked with drug enforcement while they have expanded naloxone access.
Advocate groups for community based programs, such as the Drug Policy Alliance, applaud the increased distribution of naloxone to police, but also hope community groups are included.
There are hundreds of photos on the web of US troops guarding poppy fields and opium farmers in Afghanistan. 'The U.S. military has allowed poppy cultivation to continue in order to appease farmers and government officials involved with the drug trade' UN: 'cultivation of poppy across the war-torn nation rose 36 per cent in 2013 and total opium production amounted to 5,500 tons, up by almost a half since 2012.' “This has never been witnessed before in the history of Afghanistan,” said Jean-Luc Lemahieu, the outgoing leader of the Afghanistan office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.