It’s no surprise that America has been struggling with the rapid growth rate of drug abuse and fatal overdoses throughout the course of many years. The popularity of opioid abuse has made buying and selling drugs more accessible throughout the country. From 2015, the rise in opioid usage has caused a drastic incline to fatal overdoses. Drugs that fall under the category of opioids includes heroine, morphine, methadone, Buprenorphine, hydrocodone and oxycodone.
Statistics has shown that this category of drugs and those similar have resulted in more deaths per year from overdoses than car accidents, guns and breast cancer. The National Center For Health Statistics also recorded in the year of 2016 that 37,400 deaths were from car accidents, an estimated 38,000 from guns and roughly 40,000 from Breast Cancer, while more than 64,000 fatal overdoses were recorded in the U.S. The most accurate overdose increase came forth from the category of pain killers, with around 20,000 deaths. The amount of accounted overdoses has risen to over 10,000 fatalities.
The number of recorded overdoses last year has been the most lethal year of deaths from drugs in America. Not only has the drug recorded a significant increase to overdose fatalities, but has also dropped the average American life expectancy by .1 percent. The newly average life expectancy for a baby has declined to 78.6 years.
Efforts to end the opioid and drug overdose epidemic had been announced and established by President Trump back in October.
“As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue (the opioid overdose epidemic). It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction that never has been this way. We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic. We can do it,”
Trump also told CNN that the opioid epidemic was declared a public health emergency. However, tackling the worst drug crisis in American history will be a gradual process. The outgoing issue of opioid use and drug abuse will be a difficult task as a nation. America has struggled with drug addiction and abuse for decades. More and more teens each year experiment with drugs. Over time, individuals who start out with the occasional usage of a certain drug, will potentially gain a tolerance needed to feel the same effects. This could ultimately lead to a heavy addiction.
The opioid and fatal drug overdose crisis in America has turned into an epidemic. With around 64,000 deaths last year from overdoses, the National Center For Health Statistics has concluded that there are more deaths from overdoses than car accidents, guns and breast cancer. Without the efforts to end the ongoing issue of many years, our generation could worsen over time with the heavy usage of drugs.
