from the article:
New federal data show deaths from prescription painkillers have decreased for the first time since 1999, while heroin deaths have surged, suggesting some addicts may have turned to illicit drugs as new federal and state restrictions made prescription narcotics harder to get.
Abuse of prescription opioids, such as the powerful painkiller OxyContin, fueled a surge in overdose deaths, which quadrupled from 4,030 deaths in 1999 to 16,917 deaths in 2011. The numbers are based on mortality data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2012, the latest year available, deaths from prescription painkillers dropped 5% to 16,007, according to CDC data made public Wednesday by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Deaths from all categories of prescription drugs dropped 3%, the data shows.
While drug abusers may have turned away from prescription drugs, heroin use has surged, leading to a 35% increase in heroin overdose deaths, from 4,397 in 2011 to 5,927 in 2012, the data show. People addicted to prescription narcotics may turn to heroin, which offers a similar high.
So this is a good thing ?
910 FEWER DEATHS for legal opiate drugs AND… 1530 MORE DEATHS from HEROIN
Only the government can claim progress with the war on drugs… when the number of deaths from opiate abuse increases by 620..
I thought that the war on drugs primary mission was to DECREASE the number of people abusing opiates ? AND this is the same entity (feds) that is going to make healthcare more available and more affordable ?
Filed under: General Problems
Thank you Steve for your compassionate and caring attention to chronic pain sufferers. I also want to thank you for keeping us informed!
Much love…. Hurting so bad in ALABAMA!
<3
I’ve seen people nod off like the woman in this film from abusing Soma and Hydrocodone and their face end up in their food ,its pathetic. Why anyone would do this in public is beyond comprehension. This cop seems certain its heroin but this same result can come from abusing these two medications, I’ve seen it before more than once.
Leaving chronic pain sufferers without much needed medication and being left to suffer is just like torture. We that suffer from chronic pain don’t deserve being caught in the middle and treated like those that abuse drugs for pleasure and / or addiction.
My last script for chronic pain took 8 days to fill, this is unacceptable and has become a public health hazard for those in need of pain relief. This also could be dangerous denying medications that a persons body has become use to ,people with serious health issues could have a heart attack. But it seems no one cares if a chronic pain sufferer up and dies from lack of care and compassion, its sad and sick.