TY - JOUR
AU - D. Dowell
AU - R. K. Noonan
AU - D. Houry
A1 - 
AB - Drug overdose accounted for 52?404 deaths in the United States in 2015,1 which are more deaths than for AIDS at its peak in 1995. Provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate drug overdose deaths increased again from 2015 to 2016 by more than 20% (from 52?898 deaths in the year ending in January 2016 to 64?070 deaths in the year ending in January 2017).2 Increases are greatest for overdoses related to the category including illicitly manufactured fentanyl (ie, synthetic opioids excluding methadone), which more than doubled, accounting for more than 20?000 overdose deaths in 2016 vs less than 10?000 deaths in 2015. This difference is enough to account for nearly all the increase in drug overdose deaths from 2015 to 2016.2     Since 2010, overdose deaths involving predominantly illicit opioids (heroin, synthetic nonmethadone opioids, or both) have increased by more than 200% (Figure). Why have overdose deaths related to illicit opioids increased so substantially? Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reveal moderate increases in people reporting past-year heroin use from 2010 to 2015 (Figure). Increasing numbers of individuals who use heroin are younger, might be less experienced, and might use heroin in riskier ways that are difficult to measure (eg, using it alone, using more heroin, using it more often, or combining drugs).
BT - JAMA
C5 - Opioids & Substance Use
CP - 23
DO - 10.1001/jama.2017.15971
IS - 23
JF - JAMA
N2 - Drug overdose accounted for 52?404 deaths in the United States in 2015,1 which are more deaths than for AIDS at its peak in 1995. Provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate drug overdose deaths increased again from 2015 to 2016 by more than 20% (from 52?898 deaths in the year ending in January 2016 to 64?070 deaths in the year ending in January 2017).2 Increases are greatest for overdoses related to the category including illicitly manufactured fentanyl (ie, synthetic opioids excluding methadone), which more than doubled, accounting for more than 20?000 overdose deaths in 2016 vs less than 10?000 deaths in 2015. This difference is enough to account for nearly all the increase in drug overdose deaths from 2015 to 2016.2     Since 2010, overdose deaths involving predominantly illicit opioids (heroin, synthetic nonmethadone opioids, or both) have increased by more than 200% (Figure). Why have overdose deaths related to illicit opioids increased so substantially? Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reveal moderate increases in people reporting past-year heroin use from 2010 to 2015 (Figure). Increasing numbers of individuals who use heroin are younger, might be less experienced, and might use heroin in riskier ways that are difficult to measure (eg, using it alone, using more heroin, using it more often, or combining drugs).
PY - 2017
SP - 2295
EP - 2296
EP - 
T1 - Underlying Factors in Drug Overdose Deaths
T2 - JAMA
TI - Underlying Factors in Drug Overdose Deaths
U1 - Opioids & Substance Use
U2 - 29049472
U3 - 10.1001/jama.2017.15971
VL - 318
Y1 - 2017
ER -