Drug overdose deaths top 100,000 for first time

[applegrove]

Drug overdose deaths top 100,000 for first time

Jacob Knutson at Axios

https://www.axios.com/cdc-america-drug-overdose-deaths-9490f732-b71c-454b-b7f6-9227548eb397.html

"SNIP.......

An estimated 100,306 people in the United States died from a drug overdose in a 12-month period ending April 2021, according to new provisional data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday.

Why it matters: It's the first time drug overdose fatalities reached six figures in a 12-month period and signals that the country is on track to set another tragic milestone after reporting a record 93,331 drug deaths in 2020.

The data presented is incomplete, as many cases require more investigating to confirm a cause of death, though the agency's estimates rarely largely differ from the final totals.

What they're saying: "As we continue to make strides to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot overlook this epidemic of loss, which has touched families and communities across the country," President Biden said in a statement Wednesday.

......SNIP"

[Marthe48]

1. How much despair? How many accidents?

n/t

[underpants]

2. Fentanyl and built up tolerance I'd guess

From the posting
Greater prevalence of synthetic opioids, specifically fentanyl, and the social and economic disruptions set off by the coronavirus pandemic are widely believed to be the cause of the increased deaths.

Overdoses often happen as people think they need to use more to get THAT HIGH and eventually they reach a point that the human body just can’t handle.

[Marthe48]

3. My husband had fentanyl patches

his last months of illness. My Mom used them too. No abuse, thank goodness. One of the nurses told us that people actually find discarded fentanyl patches and chew on them.

I was thinking of people who accidentally overdose, or mix things they shouldn't. And people have a feeling of despair but don't tell people. Some of those deaths are chalked up to drugs, but for the wrong reason.

[Crunchy Frog]

8. I believe that most of the fentanyl overdoses

are from illicit street fentanyl, and not from legitimately prescribed medical fentanyl.

It mostly is shipped illegally from China, and is used to cut street drugs, or in the making of counterfeit pain pills.

I hate it when they use these statistics as excuses to cut legitimate pain patients off from legitimate pain medications. In some cases actually driving some of them towards dangerous street drugs.

[RussBLib]

9. ... but no one reports that

Over the last 2 years, Texas restricted the prescribing of pain meds for chronic pain to only 7 days supply at a time. No more 30-60-90 day supply. This has effectively cut off 1,000's of chronic pain sufferers. And where do they go, if they are cut off but still have intense pain? To the black market, where you never know what you are getting. Boom! Accidental overdose. Another statistic. It's immoral, cruel and stupid.

Fortunately for me, I was in the process of reducing my own pain meds (hydrocodone) from 4/day, to 3/day, to 2/day, to 1/day, to 1 every other day, over a period of years. By the time they cut me off, in Sept of 2019, I was able to stretch out my supply. Others have obviously not been so lucky.

A lot of these deaths are due to cruel intolerance and indifference to pain. What a fucking country!

oh yeah, what I was getting at is almost NO reporting mentions these facts. It's all scare tactics, oh how horrible, fentanyl coming in from China. Some counterfeit pills do contain deadly fentanyl, when, if they just let us continue with our legit pain meds, thousands more would be alive today.

They keep saying we need more nataxalone, which can counteract the opiod effects. Often it's too fucking late. It's like putting a band-aid on your elbow after losing your arm.

[Marthe48]

11. I agree

The medicines that are helpful for pain and even sleep are over-regulated. And people with a legitimate health problem that is eased with medicine have so much trouble getting treatment that helps.

[lagomorph777]

5. My question too. Not all would be accidents.

Seems like a pretty tempting way to go in this world that's spiraling down the toilet.

[Marthe48]

6. I hope you are speaking academically!

Any of us thinking about moving on should try to wait a day

[lagomorph777]

7. I've been waiting 35 years.

Since I married the monster.

[Marthe48]

10. Oh sorry

I hope you find a way out that you can live with. At least, do you have some one to talk to? Please take care.

[lagomorph777]

12. Thanks!

I live in the gaps, the shadows, the calms between storms. In those gaps, I create things and share with humans. That sharing keeps me alive.

[maxsolomon]

4. Just awful

That's 275/day. It's driving the homelessness crisis, too.

It's absurd that the Petit Bourgeoisie point at city governments and yell "solve this!" or "push it out of my sight!". It's everywhere, not just big cities.

Go look at a rural county jail register. Half the people in there are for opiate arrests.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. American society and culture are so fucking cruel.

[getemjoe]

14. My Son is

one of them. I volunteer with an organization that's trying to make Fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. With pot and pills being laced with this stuff and white people are dying we seem to be gaining steam in the last year or two.

[bullwinkle428]

15. Listened to report that stated that fentanyl is literally being used to lace

every drug being sold on the streets these days. Because it's insanely addictive, dealers literally have the ultimate repeat business once they get someone hooked. Of course, fentanyl addicts tend not to live very long, so there is the issue of having to seek out new customers regularly.