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Readers of this blog are certainly aware that the United States is at the heart of what has been widely described as an "opioid crisis" or an "opioid epidemic". I remember the first time I was made aware of the severity of the epidemic. being covered by the mainstream media, I was in the office of a doctor and I had read a June 2015 issue of Time Magazine that described opioid abuse as creating " the worst drug crisis ever seen in America. " While alcohol and tobacco would wish to just say a word about the substance that has created the biggest health problems in society, the number of people in the United States who have died from an opioid overdose is staggering. As a researcher whose main area of work is prescription drug abuse, I have been aware of the dangers of opioid abuse for nearly a decade.
In this article and in several subsequent blog posts, I intend to dive deep into the opioid crisis. The topics covered will range from the history of the opioid epidemic to the surge of abuse and the use of fentanyl, going through the personal story of those who are affected by the opioid crisis, and how and where society should go forward, both politically and politically. for people who are currently dependent on opioids.
First, let's start with some good news. As covered in this recent New York Times article (and this more technical web page of the CDC), current estimates of the total number of drug overdose deaths in 2018 indicate that they have finally decreased compared to the previous year. The CDC webpage contains a beautiful interactive number that shows the estimated number of drug overdose deaths in the last 12 months, updated monthly. This figure suggests that the cumulative overdose total over 12 months actually peaked in November 2017, with an estimated 72,287 deaths. The cumulative total as of December 2018 was 68,557 estimated deaths, a decrease of 5.2%. Although there is a noticeable decrease in the number of opioid-related deaths, there is still a lot of work to be done as a society.
The total number of opioid overdose deaths has been estimated at approximately 47,590 since December 2018. Opioids accounted for 70% of all drug overdose deaths in 2018, which also represents a decrease of almost 3% compared to December 2017, which is another good news. In 2017, the number of drug-related deaths was greater than those caused by suicide, accidental intoxication, car accidents, all kidney disease, influenza and pneumonia, or many types of cancer (see here for a deep dive) Opioids alone have caused more deaths than suicide, homicide or assault, car accidents and many cancers.
Unfortunately, the bad news is more obvious: more than 47,000 people died of an opioid overdose during the year that ended in December 2018. 47,590! While any reduction is usually good news, the work that remains to be done to actually reduce the number of deaths from opioids is almost overwhelming. Another statistic of The New York Times What I mean is that methamphetamine-related deaths have increased dramatically in 2018. (This will likely be a topic for another ticket or series).
As the subtitle of this article indicates, this conversation about the opioid epidemic will cover (at least) the next six blog posts, and based on the comments received, I would be open to the idea of touching other topics of interest related to opioids and the opioid crisis. I hope you will attend this series and let me know if specific topics that I have not mentioned are of interest. We will not be able to answer all the suggestions, but hopefully we can reach some.
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