Synthetics now killing more people than prescription opioids, report says
Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have overtaken prescription opioids as the No. 1 killer in the opioid epidemic, according to a new report.
The report, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA [DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.2844] [DX], calculated the number and percentage of synthetic opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States between 2010 and 2016 using death certificates from the National Vital Statistics System. The researchers found that about 46% of the 42,249 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016 involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, while 40% involved prescription drugs.
That's more than a three-fold increase in the presence of synthetic opioids from 2010, when synthetic drugs were involved in approximately 14% of opioid-overdose deaths.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 02 2018, @06:22AM
It's so easy to be smug until it isn't.
First, you've got people who get seriously injured and become
physically and/or psychologically dependent. They didn't choose
get in a car accident, or have severe arthritis, or slip a disk. It just
happened. Next thing you know the pills run out and they go through
physical withdrawal. This is how too many people find out that they're
prone to addiction.
Secondly, some people are more prone than others. There
are probably foods you like and don't like. Why? Hard to say.
Same deal with drugs. Me, personally, I've had morphine once several years ago.
It was a really good pain killer. That's it. I actually didn't like the
rush at all. I liked not being in severe pain; but that's it. Other people?
They get that first hit and it's like they found God.
Are there people who are jackasses who tried these things
just for thrills and became addicts? You bet. That's not everybody
though.