The United States is facing an epidemic of opioid prescription drug and heroin addiction. It is a public health crisis that continues to worsen despite considerable resources expended by federal, state and local entities. More importantly, the horrific loss of life continues to mount as public health practitioners, medical personnel, policy experts and politicians deliberate over strategies to combat the problem.
Today, prescription drug and heroin overdoses are the leading cause of preventable deaths for Americans, exceeding automobile accidents. In 2014, the CDC reported there were nearly 29,500 opiate-related overdose deaths in the U.S., with approximately two-thirds of those deaths attributable to prescription opioid drugs and one-third attributable to their synthetic cousin, heroin. When released, the CDC's 2015 final statistics are expected to be similarly gruesome.
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