Overdose Prevention Strategy
Contents
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The Supreme Court ruled that police, like this officer in Louisiana, could legally use drug-sniffing dogs at traffic stops. This is a look at Massachusetts’ so-called “Methadone Mile,” a stretch of Boston that’s been described as “the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis.” In St. Johnsbury, Vermont, a 23-year-old injects suboxone, an opioid that is sometimes prescribed to help recovering addicts cope with symptoms of heroin withdrawal. Here, a New Hampshire firefighter helps a man who overdosed on heroin.
Recovering addicts and families who have lost loved ones to overdoses attend a 2017 press conference on the opioid crisis in Utah. In Minnesota, from 2019 to 2020, the drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents surged 34%. Vials of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and clean syringes have been distributed in Honolulu to try to reduce deaths from overdoses.
Formerly in seventh place on this list, Kentucky saw drug-overdose deaths per 100,000 residents rise 25% from 2019 to 2020. Ohio’s drug-overdose death rate fell by about nine fatalities per 100,000 residents from 2019 to 2020. Previously ranked 11th in this rundown, Tennessee saw drug-overdose deaths per 100,000 residents rise more than 30% from 2019 to 2020. In New Mexico, the state’s drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents increased 29% from 2019 to 2020.
- Of all unintentional overdose deaths in Ohio in 2016, 20% had an opioid prescription in the previous 30 days.
- Rhode Island had the fifth-highest rate of drug overdose deaths in 2015.
- In 2019, non-Hispanic American Indians or Alaska Natives had a higher drug overdose death rate than any other racial or ethnic group .
- Prescription opioids were the main driver of overdose deaths in Utah in 2017.
In the state, the drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents increased 23% from 2019 to 2020. From 2019 to 2020 in Kansas, the state’s drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents increased 22%. From 2019 to 2020 in North Dakota, the state’s drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents increased about 11%. In Iowa, from 2019 to 2020, the drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents increased 24%. In 2015, there were 594 opioid-related overdose deaths in South Carolina. From 1999 to 2016, more than 12,000 North Carolinians died from opioid-related overdoses, the majority of which were unintentional overdoses.
Drug Overdose Mortality by State
Harm reduction is critical to keeping people who use drugs alive and as healthy as possible. Preventing substance use disorder is the first step towards addressing overdoses. Learn about effective prevention programs and safe prescribing practices. West Virginia had the country’s highest drug-overdose death rate in 2015. Opioid overdose deaths in Washington, DC, more than doubled from 2014 to 2016.
What happens if you give narcan to someone who doesn t need it?
What effect does Narcan have on someone who doesn't need it? Narcan won't have any effect on someone who doesn't need it (someone who does not have opioids in their body). So it's safe to give someone Narcan if you think they may have overdosed on opioids but aren't sure.
The figures above are bar charts showing the number of U.S. overdose deaths involving select prescription and illicit drugs from 1999 through 2020. The bars are overlaid by lines representing gender or concurrent opioid involvement. There were 91,799 drug-involved overdose deaths reported in the U.S. in 2020 ; 69% of cases occurred among males . Synthetic opioids other than methadone were the main driver of drug overdose deaths with a 6-fold increase from 2015 to 2020 .
The United States Has Opioid Overdose Death Rates More Than Twice Those of Any Other Country
A hotel in Woodland Hills, California, is taped off as officials investigate suspected fentanyl overdoses that sent four people to the hospital. From 2019 to 2020, Mississippi’s drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents climbed 55%. Previously ranked 27th, Utah saw its drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents tick up 8% from 2019 to 2020.
North Carolina’s drug-overdose death rate surged from 2019 to 2020, increasing by nearly nine deaths per 100,000 residents. From 2019 to 2020, Michigan saw its drug-overdose eco sober house complaints death rate increase 17% per 100,000 residents. Here, protesters rally outside of then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office in New York City in 2019.
Of all unintentional overdose deaths in Ohio in 2016, 20% had an opioid prescription in the previous 30 days. Escalating use of prescription opioids for pain management has drastically contributed to America’s opioid epidemic. West Virginia’s already high drug-overdose death rate rose about 54% from 2019 to 2020. Black Balloon Day, a national day of remembrance of those lost to drug overdoses, is observed in Portland, Maine.
Evidence-Based Treatment
Prescription opioid-involved deaths nearly doubled from 176 to 300 in Colorado from 2013 to 2017. Albuquerque police officer Ryan Holets holds his adopted daughter, Hope. Holets persuaded a pregnant heroin user to let him adopt her unborn child. A recovering heroin addict in Camden, New Jersey, points to a scar from injecting drugs.
Maryland’s drug-overdose death rate rose by about six fatalities per 100,000 residents from 2019 to 2020. Pennsylvania’s drug-overdose death rate increased nearly 20% from 2019 to 2020. Arizona’s drug-overdose death rate rose by nine fatalities per 100,000 residents from 2019 to 2020.
Michigan officials speak to reporters after announcing a new state opioid unit in 2017. An Illinois firefighter treats an overdose victim as she is transported to a hospital. An Alexandria, Virginia, man holds a photo of his nephew, who died in 2019 after overdosing on fentanyl. A dog trains to aid the Department of Homeland Security in detecting drugs along the U.S.-Canadian border. In 2017, the state of Alaska sued Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid OxyContin.
Recovery support services can lead to better long-term outcomes, especially when available in communities where they are needed. When a person is ready, high-quality treatment must be available without https://sober-house.org/ delay. Oklahoma is the third-highest prescriber of long-acting and extended-release opioids. Louisiana is the fifth-highest prescriber of painkillers, with 98.1 prescriptions per 100 people.
Overdose Death Rates
Now, chemists analyze the substances in a lab to determine their contents. While Wisconsin holds steady in its ranking in this countdown, its drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents surged 31% from 2019 to 2020. From 2019 to 2020, Alaska’s drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents increased 24%. From 2019 to 2020, California’s drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents skyrocketed 45%. In all, California lost 8,908 people to fatal overdoses in 2020 — the biggest number posted by any state. Despite falling in these rankings , the state’s drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents increased about 15% from 2019 to 2020.
Is Narcan the same as Suboxone?
Is SUBOXONE the same as Narcan? No, while SUBOXONE contains the same ingredient, naloxone, which is the antidote to reverse an opioid overdose, Narcan (naloxone) nasal spray is used in an emergency as a treatment for drug overdose.
Previously ranked 15th, Louisiana jumps to seventh place in this countdown. From 2019 to 2020, its drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents surged by more than 50%. In Rhode Island, the drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents surged by nearly 30% from 2019 to 2020. An 11-foot, 800-pound sculpture of a burnt spoon is displayed outside a Rhode Island drugmaker’s office to protest the opioid crisis. From 2019 to 2020, the drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 South Carolina residents surged more than 50%. In the state, from 2019 to 2020, the drug-overdose death rate ticked up 5% per 100,000 residents.
Higher Rates in Minority Groups
One out of every 66 deaths in Missouri were due to opioid overdose in 2016. In 2016, there were 186 prescription opioid-related deaths in Minnesota. In 2017, there were 711 prescription-related opioid deaths in Maryland ‒ a rate double the national average. 66 of 75 Arkansas counties had opioid prescribing rates higher than the national average in 2016. Alaska’s governor declared opioid abuse a public health emergency in 2017.
Previously ranked 19th in this countdown, Florida saw its drug-overdose death rate per 100,000 residents surge by 37% from 2019 to 2020. In all, there were 7,231 overdose fatalities in Florida in 2020, the second most of any state. In New Jersey, the drug-overdose death rate basically held steady from 2019 to 2020.
In 2022, Purdue reached a nationwide settlement over its role in the opioid crisis. In 2009, 18 people were arrested in connection with what, at the time, was considered Mississippi’s largest meth distribution ring. This woman is one of many Cherokee people in Oklahoma to test positive for hepatitis C as a consequence of drug use. In Pratt, Kansas, a deputy sheriff holds holds two bags of methamphetamine. This recovering meth addict said he had to move more than 150 miles from his home to receive treatment. Former meth user Jeremy Bucholz speaks to South Dakota students about the addictive drug.
From 2019 to 2020, the number of deaths involving prescription opioids rose, after remaining steady for two years, to 16,416 . The final two charts show the number of overdose deaths involving benzodiazepines or antidepressants . Benzodiazepines were involved in 12,290 deaths in 2020—a steady decline from the 11,537 deaths in 2017. Deaths involving antidepressants have remained steady since 2014, with 5,597 fatalities reported in 2020.
