They are dying all around us

The Problem

Drug overdose was the leading cause of injury death in 2012. Among people 25 to 64 years old, drug overdose caused more deaths than motor vehicle traffic crashes.1
The drug overdose death rate has more than doubled from 1999 through 2013.8
In 2013, 35,663 (81.1%) of the 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States were unintentional, 5,432 (12.4%) were of suicidal intent, and 2,801 (6.4%) were of undetermined intent.8
In 2011, drug misuse and abuse caused about 2.5 million emergency department (ED) visits. Of these, more than 1.4 million ED visits were related to pharmaceuticals.2
Between 2004 and 2005, an estimated 71,000 children (18 or younger) were seen in EDs each year because of medication overdose (excluding self-harm, abuse and recreational drug use).4
Among children under age 6, pharmaceuticals account for about 40% of all exposures reported to poison centers.5

In 2013, of the 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States, 22,767 (51.8%) were related to pharmaceuticals.8
Of the 22,767 deaths relating to pharmaceutical overdose in 2013, 16,235 (71.3%) involved opioid analgesics (also called opioid pain relievers or prescription painkillers), and 6,973 (30.6%) involved benzodiazepines.8 (Some deaths include more than one type of drug.)
In 2011, about 1.4 million ED visits involved the nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals. Among those ED visits, 501,207 visits were related to anti-anxiety and insomnia medications, and 420,040 visits were related to opioid analgesics.2
Benzodiazepines are frequently found among people treated in EDs for misusing or abusing drugs.2 People who died of drug overdoses often had a combination of benzodiazepines and opioid analgesics in their bodies.6

In the United States, prescription opioid abuse costs were about $55.7 billion in 2007.7 Of this amount, 46% was attributable to workplace costs (e.g., lost productivity), 45% to healthcare costs (e.g., abuse treatment), and 9% to criminal justice costs.7

Among those who died from drug overdose in 2012:

Men were 59% more likely than women to die;
Whites had the highest death rate, followed by American Indians/Alaska Natives and then blacks;
The highest death rate was among people 45-49 years of age; and
The lowest death rates were among children less than 15 years old because they do not abuse drugs as frequently as older people.1

Among people who misused or abused drugs and received treatment in emergency departments in 2011:

I do not worry about you

I don't worry about you

Destiny already came for you

I don't worry about you

I don't care what you do

I relax and pray

Stay in bed all day

Eat, laugh and grin

No thought about you sin

What you trying to do

Create problems to take me through

I do not worry about you

Destiny already came for you