6 ms·

Changing dynamics of the drug overdose epidemic in the US, 1979-2016

45 points by Hooke 7y ago

persistent 7y ago
Interesting that there seems to be a consistent age cohort born before (I guess from the heat maps) 1950 that just aren't into this stuff.
- doctorpangloss 7y ago
  Or addicts die before they’re 70+ years old.
  - persistent 7y ago
    But that's not what the graphs show. There is a diagonal that clearly tracks a birth year cohort, not an age.
    - spamizbad 7y ago
      True, but the graph show lots of people dying in their 20s and 30s. So if I was born in 1940s and became a heroin addict there's a good chance I die before 1979. So those born before 1950's are unlikely to die of a drug overdose between 1979-2016 because to do so they would have needed to become in contact with heroin for the first time well into their 30s instead of their teens and 20s.
refurb 7y ago
Not surprised that as prescription opioid supply is tightened up, users move to heroin.
freeonioire 7y ago
All drugs should be legalized in US. You should be able to buy opioids/heroin/cannabis at the local pharmacy with no prescription or questions asked. This war on drugs only kills people and makes the Purdue family rich.
- maverick2007 7y ago
  Is there anywhere in the world where all drugs are legalized? I know Portugal (and maybe others) have decriminalized drugs and results are pretty good but going from decriminalization to legalization feels like a big step.
  - authoritarian 7y ago
    Drug possession has been decriminalized in Uruguay since the mid 1970s. As you mention, Portugal also decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Switzerland provides safe injection rooms and needle exchanges for harm reduction
    - jackpeterfletch 7y ago
      Their point is that thats not 'legalization' on the sell side though. So if thats it we have no real data on how that would work.
- avocado4 7y ago
  What happens if you buy heroin, overdose, and pass out on the street with permanent brain damage?
  - not2personal 7y ago
    What happens now?
  - authoritarian 7y ago
    The same thing that happens now, except medics could know you're overdosing on pure diacetylmorphine (or whatever is sold), rather than heroin mixed with fentanyl mixed with baby formula powder mixed with your dealers skin sells mixed with whatever other garbage street drugs get cut with. Not to mention the money saved from being wasted on the war on drugs and gained from the sale of drugs could go towards mental health and other medical services to actual address the root of the issue rather than wasting even more money by throwing addicts in prison
ebg13 7y ago
Anyone know wtf is going on with New Mexico? It's seriously disproportionately represented in every map. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/361/6408/eaau1184/F4.large.jpg?width=800&height=600&carousel=1 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/361/6408/eaau1184...
- anon1m0us 7y ago
  There are probably a lot of factors: New Mexico is the second poorest state in terms of poverty rates. It's a drug smuggling gateway from Mexico. Very high Native American population, which itself, struggles disproportionately with addiction. Mostly rural isolated populations where drugs offer a means of escape and long wait times for an ambulance to arrive in the case of an overdose situation. As an aside, looking at those charts, no wonder Breaking Bad was set there.
11thEarlOfMar 7y ago
I call this a betrayal of America by US politicians. The overdose rate has apparently doubled over the past 10 years and congress did not even start talking about opioids until, what, 2017? No one jailed until 2019? 3 years beyond the charts in this report. 47,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in the last 12 months. Is it coincidence that by far the biggest spender on congressional lobbying is Pharma/Healthcare? $284,000,000 in 2018 alone. That is $531,000 per congressperson in one year, and only for Pharma/Healthcare. Or, another way to look at it, $5,985.25 per opioid death. [0] https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=a&indexType=i https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=a&indexTy...
sunkenvicar 7y ago
Chinese fentanyl is to heroin what vodka is to near beer.

45 points by Hooke 7y ago

Interesting that there seems to be a consistent age cohort born before (I guess from the heat maps) 1950 that just aren't into this stuff.

doctorpangloss 7y ago
Or addicts die before they’re 70+ years old.
- persistent 7y ago
  But that's not what the graphs show. There is a diagonal that clearly tracks a birth year cohort, not an age.
  - spamizbad 7y ago
    True, but the graph show lots of people dying in their 20s and 30s. So if I was born in 1940s and became a heroin addict there's a good chance I die before 1979. So those born before 1950's are unlikely to die of a drug overdose between 1979-2016 because to do so they would have needed to become in contact with heroin for the first time well into their 30s instead of their teens and 20s.

refurb 7y ago

Not surprised that as prescription opioid supply is tightened up, users move to heroin.

freeonioire 7y ago

All drugs should be legalized in US. You should be able to buy opioids/heroin/cannabis at the local pharmacy with no prescription or questions asked. This war on drugs only kills people and makes the Purdue family rich.

maverick2007 7y ago
Is there anywhere in the world where all drugs are legalized? I know Portugal (and maybe others) have decriminalized drugs and results are pretty good but going from decriminalization to legalization feels like a big step.
- authoritarian 7y ago
  Drug possession has been decriminalized in Uruguay since the mid 1970s. As you mention, Portugal also decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Switzerland provides safe injection rooms and needle exchanges for harm reduction
  - jackpeterfletch 7y ago
    Their point is that thats not 'legalization' on the sell side though. So if thats it we have no real data on how that would work.
avocado4 7y ago
What happens if you buy heroin, overdose, and pass out on the street with permanent brain damage?
- not2personal 7y ago
  What happens now?
- authoritarian 7y ago
  The same thing that happens now, except medics could know you're overdosing on pure diacetylmorphine (or whatever is sold), rather than heroin mixed with fentanyl mixed with baby formula powder mixed with your dealers skin sells mixed with whatever other garbage street drugs get cut with. Not to mention the money saved from being wasted on the war on drugs and gained from the sale of drugs could go towards mental health and other medical services to actual address the root of the issue rather than wasting even more money by throwing addicts in prison

ebg13 7y ago

Anyone know wtf is going on with New Mexico? It's seriously disproportionately represented in every map. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/361/6408/eaau1184/F4.large.jpg?width=800&height=600&carousel=1 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/361/6408/eaau1184...

anon1m0us 7y ago
There are probably a lot of factors: New Mexico is the second poorest state in terms of poverty rates. It's a drug smuggling gateway from Mexico. Very high Native American population, which itself, struggles disproportionately with addiction. Mostly rural isolated populations where drugs offer a means of escape and long wait times for an ambulance to arrive in the case of an overdose situation. As an aside, looking at those charts, no wonder Breaking Bad was set there.

11thEarlOfMar 7y ago

I call this a betrayal of America by US politicians. The overdose rate has apparently doubled over the past 10 years and congress did not even start talking about opioids until, what, 2017? No one jailed until 2019? 3 years beyond the charts in this report. 47,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in the last 12 months. Is it coincidence that by far the biggest spender on congressional lobbying is Pharma/Healthcare? $284,000,000 in 2018 alone. That is $531,000 per congressperson in one year, and only for Pharma/Healthcare. Or, another way to look at it, $5,985.25 per opioid death. [0] https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=a&indexType=i https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=a&indexTy...

sunkenvicar 7y ago

Chinese fentanyl is to heroin what vodka is to near beer.