Facts & Statistics
In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills
4 in 5 new heroin users started out misusing prescription painkillers
In 2014, 94% of individuals report choosing to use heroin instead of prescription opioids because it was “far more expensive and harder to obtain”
In 2014, 1.9 million Americans age 12 or older had a substance abuse issue with prescription pain relievers and 586,000 involving heroin
23% of individuals who use heroin develop opioid addiction
Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US
- 47,055 lethal drug overdoses in 2014
- 18,893 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers in 2014
- 10,574 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2014
If a person overdoses once, they are far more likely to overdose again
Non-fatal overdoses are several times more common than fatal opioid overdoses
References
- American Society of Addiction Medicine. Opioid Addiction 2016 Facts & Figures. Retrieved on March 18, 2016
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. What are opioids? Retrieved on March 18, 2016
- Volkow, Nora, D. (2014). America’s Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved on March 18, 2016