Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, CDC data shows

[sarisataka]

Heroin deaths surpass gun homicides for the first time, CDC data shows

Opioid deaths continued to surge in 2015, surpassing 30,000 for the first time in recent history, according to CDC data released Thursday.

That marks an increase of nearly 5,000 deaths from 2014. Deaths involving powerful synthetic opiates, like fentanyl, rose by nearly 75 percent from 2014 to 2015.

Heroin deaths spiked too, rising by more than 2,000 cases. For the first time since at least the late 1990s, there were more deaths due to heroin than to traditional opioid painkillers, like hydrocodone and oxycodone.

"The epidemic of deaths involving opioids continues to worsen," said CDC Director Tom Frieden in a statement. "Prescription opioid misuse and use of heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl are intertwined and deeply troubling problems."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/08/heroin-deaths-surpass-gun-homicides-for-the-first-time-cdc-data-show/?utm_term=.f09f0024b431

Apparently according to what has been stated previously, all we need to do is make guns and heroin illegal to fix these problems

To any curious reader this graph is what an epidemic looks like:
https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=
Hint: it's the blue line.

[Puha Ekapi_2]

1. We need some serious....

drug control legislation ASAP...


....oh, wait...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

2. We need to ban that thingie that goes up...

...your arm.

[shadowrider]

3. Ban assault opiods. It's the only way we'll be safe. Wait, nevermind n/t

[Eleanors38]

4. A continuing problem with this topic and the manner in which it is covered...

The Post does NOT provide any data showing the rate of opioid use/addiction over time. The Post does NOT deal clealy with the other substances taken in conjunction with opioids, esp. alcohol. Some studies describe the deaths-due-to-opioids as primarily edema, usually associated with extreme and overwhelming alcohol abuse (endemic to the heroin community). Over all, drinking is on the rise in the U.S. This is important to consider when assessing any addiction rates and societal trends.