US deaths from synthetic opioids surge by 72 percent
US deaths from synthetic opioids surge by 72 percent
By Kate Randall
The number of overdose deaths in the US from synthetic opioids surged 72 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to new data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The dramatic one-year rise follows a tripling of overdose deaths from opioids from 1999 to 2014, as tracked by the CDC.
The news follows CDC research released earlier this month showing that heroin overdose deaths in the US have reached epidemic proportions, with opioid overdose deaths rising 5,000 since 2014, surpassing 30,000 for the first time in recent history.
The reality of the opioid overdose crisis stands in stark contrast to President Obama’s rosy depiction of life in America as he prepares to leave office. At his last press conference of the year on Friday, he pointed to the low official unemployment rate, a modest increase in wages and, above all, a tripling of the stock market to claim that he leaves a legacy of economic “success.” He avoided any mention of the social crisis wracking the country, including declining life expectancy for large sections of the working class, rising suicides, and surging substance abuse and death from opioid overdoses.
Obama’s words provide cold comfort to the tens of thousands of families losing loved ones to the opioid epidemic, even as funding for treatment programs is cut. Despite the CDC’s stress in its report on the “urgent need for a multifaceted, collaborative public health” response to the opioid epidemic, there is no coordinated government effort to stem the tide of opioid abuse and overdose deaths.
According to the CDC’s latest report, a majority of US states reported significant increases in overdose deaths due to heroin and prescription painkiller abuse last year. In 2015 alone, drug overdoses killed 52,000 people, with nearly 66 percent of these deaths resulting from abuse of prescription or illegal opioids.
The CDC data shows that two synthetic opioids, fentanyl and tramadol, are largely responsible for the nationwide increase in drug overdose deaths. Fentanyl is a potent opioid pain medication estimated to be at least 50 to 100 times as strong as morphine. Overdoses from tramadol often involve other drugs, including alcohol.
Last year, 9,580 died from overdoses of synthetic opioids other than methadone, while painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicotin had a 4 percent increase, resulting in 17,536 overdose deaths.
Over the last six years, deaths form heroin overdoses alone have quadrupled. For the first time ever, more people died from heroin overdoses last year, 12,989, than were killed by gun violence, 12,979.
Males saw a staggering 90.9 percent increase in synthetic opioid deaths from 2014 to 2015, with younger men the hardest hit. Men ages 15-24 saw a 91.7 percent increase; ages 25-34, a 94.1 percent increase; ages 35-44, an 80.6 percent increase.
Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids among women rose by 46.2 percent in 2015, with women ages 15-24 seeing the largest one-year rise in deaths--116.7 percent--of any age or gender group.
The CDC’s data shows blacks of all ages (non-Hispanic) with the largest one-year increase, 95 percent; followed by whites (non-Hispanic), 75 percent; and Hispanics, 50 percent.
Seven years into the so-called economic recovery, cities and towns across the country are gripped by an opioid and heroin epidemic that sees no signs of ebbing. Families seem helpless to deal with their members’ addictions, with their only apparent ally the drug naloxone (brand name Narcan), which reverses the effects of opioids within minutes. The drug is now widely available to the public in many states.
The Northeast region saw the biggest hike in synthetic opioid overdose deaths, rising by 107 percent in 2015 over 2014 figures. Three Northeast states registered overdose death increases in excess of 100 percent in one year: New York (135.7 percent), Connecticut (125.9 percent), and Massachusetts (108.7 percent). New Hampshire followed close behind (94.4 percent), as did Maine (90.4 percent).
In the face of the Massachusetts opioid crisis, Republican Governor Charlie Baker’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017 slashes $1.929 million from the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, affecting treatment programs across the state.
In Connecticut, another hard-hit New England state, there are 400 people on the waiting list for the substance abuse treatment and detox programs paid for by the state’s judicial branch on any given day, according to the CT Mirror. To cut $4 million from the judicial branch’s budget, the state has cut substance abuse treatment beds in Hartford, Middletown, New Britain, New London, Sharon and Waterbury.
The Midwest region saw the next biggest one-year increase, at 95 percent. Illinois saw a 120 percent increase, while Ohio had a 107.3 percent rise.
Among the 28 states meeting inclusion criteria for state-level analysis by the CDC, the largest absolute change in deaths from synthetic opioids other than methadone occurred in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island and West Virginia. States seeing the largest absolute rate changes for heroin deaths were Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio and West Virginia.
Under conditions where budget cuts will only deepen under a Trump administration, little hope is offered to the tens of millions of people across the country facing a future of austerity and increased health problems, including addiction.
While one in seven Americans will become addicted to drugs or alcohol in their lifetime, according to a recent report from the US surgeon general, only 10 percent of those affected will ever receive help in treating their dependency.
Such is the true social legacy of Obama’s pro-corporate and militaristic policies, rooted in the defense of the capitalist profit system.
CAUTION!
GRAPHIC IMAGES of America coming under Mex Occupation
The NARCOMEX drug cartels now operate in all major American cities and haul back to NARCOMEX between $40 top $60 BILLION from sales of HEROIN!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/10/america-la-raza-mexicos-wide-open.html
HEROIN!
MEXICO INVADES, LOOTS AND EXPANDS
ITS HEROIN MARKETS IN AMERICA’S OPEN
AND UNDEFENDED BORDERS
JUDICIAL WATCH:
“The greatest criminal threat to the daily lives of American citizens are the Mexican drug cartels.”
Much more here:
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-american-border-with-narcomex.html ……post on your face book
“Mexican drug cartels are the “other” terrorist
threat to America. Militant Islamists have the
goal of destroying the United States. Mexican
drug cartels are now accomplishing that
mission – from within, every day, in virtually
every community across this country.”
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2016/11/mexican-gangs-overrun-texas-open-and.html
Mexico Finds 2 Border Tunnels Leading from Tijuana Into U.S.:
Published on CNS News (http://www.cnsnews.com)
Mexico Finds 2 Border Tunnels Leading from Tijuana Into U.S.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican police and soldiers have discovered two tunnels in the border city of Tijuana that lead into California.
The tunnels were found in an area of warehouses across from Otay Mesa.
Prosecutors said Monday that one of the tunnels reached to San Diego, California, and the other was unfinished.
The Attorney General's Office said the tunnels were apparently used by the Sinaloa drug cartel to move drugs into the United States.
It said it found the tunnels after the U.S. consulate in Tijuana determined the tunnels were being reactivated after apparently falling into disuse.
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/mexico-finds-2-border-tunnels-leading-us
15-YEAR-OLD BOY DRIVES OVER
UNDEFENDED BORDER WITH $1.1
MILLION OF WEED
Mexican teenager driving minivan arrested with 1,380 pounds of marijuana:
A 15-year-old Mexican boy driving a minivan near the Texas-Mexico border was arrested Thursday for attempting to transport $1.1 million worth of marijuana into the United States, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release issued Monday. Border Patrol agents working near the Harlingen Station in the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday morning witnessed large bundles being loaded into a red minivan. The agents followed the van until the driver pulled over, jumped out of the car and ran away. Agents successfully chased down the driver. An inspection of the van yielded 1,380 pounds of marijuana, which have an estimated U.S. street value of more than $1 million, according to the release. This is a prime example of how transnational criminal organizations are exploiting the youth. These young lives are deliberately put in danger for the profit of smuggling drugs and immigrants, chief patrol agent Manuel Padilla Jr. said in a statement. We continue to work with the community by presenting to local schools warning our children of the outcomes of working for these organizations, not only by potentially facing prison time, but also death.
BUILDING THE MEXICAN CARTELS IN THE AMERICAN BURBS!
MEXIFORNIA (Formerly California) NOW UNDER NARCOMEX CONTROL
Suspected Illegal Alien Marijuana Farmers Held Workers Hostage: ICE
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2016/09/la-raza-mexican-occupied-california-mex.html
MEXIFORNIA.... welcomes Mexico's DRUG
CARTELS... but first register to vote DEM!
CAUTION!
GRAPHIC IMAGES of America coming under Mex Occupation
The NARCOMEX drug cartels now operate in all major American cities and haul back to NARCOMEX between $40 top $60 BILLION from sales of HEROIN!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/10/america-la-raza-mexicos-wide-open.html
AMERICA THE ADDICTED: 1 in 7 are addicted
CAUTION: GRAPHIC IMAGES!
MEXICO’S BIGGEST EXPORTS TO U.S.: Heroin, Criminals, Anchor baby breeders for 18 years of gringo-paid welfare.
1 in 7 are addicted
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2016/11/addicted-america-1-of-7-addicted.html
AMERICA’S LAST DAYS AS THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS’ OPEN BORDERS MARKET
BE PREPARED!
THE FASTEST GROWING POLITICAL PARTY IN AMERICA IS THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA. IT IS AN AMERICAN TAX SUPPORTED POLITICAL PARTY.
15 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LA RAZA “THE RACE”
by Michelle Malkin
"The American Southwest seems to be slowly returning to the jurisdiction of Mexico without firing a single shot." --- EXCELSIOR --- national newspaper of Mexico
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2016/12/michelle-malkin-15-things-every-legal.html
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