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: 2) by frojack on Wednesday May 02 2018, @06:54AM (1 child)
Ah, what planet have you been vacationing on where you haven't heard that the majority of states already have legal medical marijuana?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Wednesday May 02 2018, @07:13AM
I said the *FEDS*. On what planet are the feds anything but entrenched against legalization?