Opioid Crisis Facts
Not my Kid?
Use of opioid Prescriptions before the 12th grade is independently associated with a 33% increase in risk of future opioid misuse even after high school. This is concentrated among students with little or no history of drug abuse, as well as having a strong disapproval of drug use before taking them.
- American Academy of Pediatrics
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Everyday in the U.S. 2,500 youth (12-17) abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time
- Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
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“Public health officials have called the current opioid epidemic the worst drug crisis in American history, killing more than 33,000 people in 2015. Overdose deaths were nearly equal to the number of deaths from car crashes. In 2015, for the first time, deaths from heroin alone surpassed gun homicides.”
- The New York Times January 6, 2017
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On an average day in the U.S. 300,000 people die from an opioid-related overdoses
- Department of Health & Human Services
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On a typical day emergency department visits for drug abuse by youth aged 12-17 includes 26 for opioid pain relievers
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Prescription drug abuse causes the largest percentage of deaths from drug overdosing. Of the 22,400 drug overdose deaths in the US in 2005, opioid painkillers were the most commonly found drug, accounting for 38.2% of these deaths.
- Foundation for a Drug Free World
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In the US alone, more than 15 million people abuse prescription drugs, more than the combined number who reported abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin.