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According to a new survey, the number of people who use opioids in the United States has decreased slightly in 2017 compared to the previous year.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Friday that 11.4 million people had used opioids in 2017, up from 11.8 million in 2016 and 12.7 million in 2015.
Of the people who abused opioids last year, the vast majority (11.1 million, or 97%) used prescription pain medications, with Hydrocodone and Oxycodone being the most common abused.
Nearly one million people were using heroin, while half a million were using both prescription opioids and heroin.
The survey found that most people who have abused opioid prescription have received them from friends or relatives for free. According to the survey, 34.6% of them received them from a doctor, indicating that excessive prescribing of opioids remains a problem.
"This is important because it tells us that we still have a major problem in this country with prescribers who prescribe too much medicine to the point where people have enough to share or sell to others." said Dr. Elinore McCance. Katz, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Addiction.
The number of people who use heroin has decreased slightly in 2017, but the survey reveals that more people are dying.
In 2017, 15,594 people died from a heroin overdose, a sharp increase from 13,219 deaths in 2016, 13,101 deaths in 2015 and 2,013 deaths in 2002.
"What this tells us is that we have a heroine on the street who is much more toxic and dangerous than in 2002," McCance-Katz said.
The increase in deaths could be attributed to the skyrocketing of heroin associated with fentanyl, a powerful opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
However, the survey released Friday revealed that the number of new heroin users has increased from 170,000 in 2016 to 81,000 last year.
The new data comes as the Senate prepares to vote on a package of bills aimed at curbing the country's opioid epidemic.
The House passed its version earlier this summer and the Senate plans to vote on its package next week.
The survey published Friday We mainly examined the impact of prescription opioid abuse and not synthetic opioids, which have become the leading driver of opioid deaths in the United States.
Of the 72,000 Americans who died of an overdose in 2017, 30,000 received an overdose of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, while heroin and other overdose rates opioids decreased or remained stable. Prevention (CDC).
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