Abstract
Policy brief.
The United States has a drug problem. Overdose deaths have increased by more than 1,000 percent since 1980, with each of the past 28 years surpassing the last. With over 70,000 fatal overdoses in 2017 alone — an average of 192 deaths per day — drugs now kill more people than HIV/AIDS at the height of the epidemic in 1995. Opioids — prescription pain killers like OxyContin and Percocet, and illegal drugs including illicit fentanyl and heroin — are largely to blame.
The United States has a drug problem. Overdose deaths have increased by more than 1,000 percent since 1980, with each of the past 28 years surpassing the last. With over 70,000 fatal overdoses in 2017 alone — an average of 192 deaths per day — drugs now kill more people than HIV/AIDS at the height of the epidemic in 1995. Opioids — prescription pain killers like OxyContin and Percocet, and illegal drugs including illicit fentanyl and heroin — are largely to blame.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Institute for Economic Policy Research |
| State | Published - Feb 2019 |
