Fentanyl Surpasses Heroin As Drug Most Often Involved In Deadly Overdoses
Researchers found that the rate of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl (or one of its analogs) doubled each year from 2013 to 2016. Deaths involving heroin have also continued to rise, increasing threefold from 2011 to 2016.
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In more than two-thirds of the overdose deaths involving fentanyl, one or more other drugs were present. That’s not surprising, because drugs including heroin and cocaine are now often sold with fentanyl mixed in. Sometimes people believe they are taking pure heroin or cocaine, but the drug is laced with fentanyl. Such situations can easily lead to overdose.
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These recent trends are part of a larger epidemic of fatal drug overdoses, which more than tripled between 1999 and 2017.
The consequences of drug abuse continue to devastate those in the USA and those around the world. There is a desperate need to apply better methods to help people improve their lives.
Related: The Opioid Crisis in the USA Continues to Kill Tens of Thousands Every Year – Creating Conditions That Reduce the Likelihood That Teenagers Will Abuse Drugs – The War on Drugs has been a Huge Failure with Massive Unintended Consequences
