A large portion of the deaths are from prescription drugs: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html > Opioids (

A large portion of the deaths are from prescription drugs: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html > Opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin, and fentanyl) killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record. Nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.