News

The news from the federal government that drug overdose deaths in the United States declined in 2018 for the first time in three decades comes just as a new report published by The Washington Post shows the staggering number of opioid pills that flooded the country and contributed to the opioid crisis. Read More.

According to a new study in the American Sociological Review, if one family member uses prescription opioids, it’s likely that others in the family will soon be using them, too. Read More. 

Early data predicts that there were 68,500 drug overdose deaths in the US in 2018, down from 72,000 the previous year…but it is unknown whether overdose deaths will continue to fall. Read More.

The state of Minnesota is seeking applications for a new council intended to fight the opioid epidemic…applications are due by July 29. More information is available from the secretary of state’s office at sos.state.mn.us. Read More.

The opioid epidemic in the United States has largely centered on white Americans, who account for roughly 80 percent of opioid overdose victims. But the national attention on white victims has pushed minorities to the sidelines, even as the number of opioid-related deaths among non-whites is on the rise. Read More.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday posted the provisional numbers showing nearly 68,000 drug overdose deaths were reported last year. The number may go up as more investigations are completed, but the agency expect the tally will end up below 69,000. Overdose deaths had been climbing each year since 1990, topping 70,000 in 2017. Read More. 

Drugmakers and distributors dramatically increased shipments of opioid painkillers across the U.S. as the nation’s addiction crisis accelerated from 2006 to 2012, according to newly released federal data. Read More.

More than 130 people in the U.S. die every day from opioid overdoses, with about 47,000 people dying in 2017. Read More.

State health officials say new data suggest progress is being made in the opioid epidemic with preliminary numbers released Tuesday showing a significant drop in opioid overdose death from 2017 to 2018. Read More.

Two decades ago, a new generation of supposedly safer painkillers triggered an epidemic of opioid abuse in the U.S. Since then, opioid overdoses have killed well over 400,000 Americans—more deaths than the country’s military suffered in World War II. Read More.