By: Jimmy Kakish
Opioid abuse is an epidemic in the U.S.
91 people die every day from opioid overdoses of heroin or prescription equivalents like painkillers and fentanyl.
A new study shows that heroin use has increased five-fold from 2002-2012.
“From 1999 onwards, overdose deaths due to prescription opioids rose incrementally,” said Bertha Madras, a professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School. “[they] consistently outpaced annual heroin death rates,” said Madras in an editorial that accompanied the study, released by The JAMA Network.
The report also found that the number of people with a heroin disorder tripled.
Consult the infographic below for more info: