In the last 30 years, drug overdose accounts for a phenomenal 870,00 deaths in the US. In 2017 alone, 72,000 deaths were caused by opioid overdose. And this, in fact, is the highest drug overdose death rate among 17 other high-income countries. Yet, in all the justified hype about Heroin and other opioid-induced deaths, are we missing a bigger and equally frightening reality – the death rate from misuse of prescription opioids?
This infographic throws up some disturbing statistics of non-medical use of prescription opioids and the fact that over 50% of overdose deaths are linked to prescription drug abuse.
Heroin vs Prescription Opioids:
Infographic by – Black Bear Rehab