The Wall Street Journal (9/20, Ulick, McKay, Subscription Publication) reports that according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science, opioids aren’t the only driver of rising drug overdose deaths because when the use of one drug declines, the use of another rises. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health found a 40-year exponential-growth curve over drug-related deaths involving methamphetamines, cocaine, and other drugs in shifting patterns among different age groups around the US.
NBC News (9/20) mentions that the Department of Health and Human Services “released $1 billion this week to various agencies to use in fighting the epidemic, with funds earmarked for medications to help people stop using opioids and behavioral programs to help prevent relapses.” Dr. Donald Burke, dean of Pitt’s school of public health, predicts that even as the US curb opioid abuse, societal and cultural factors will keep substance abuse going. Burke said, “This is a reason that U.S. society needs to pay attention to the loss of the sense of purpose, the widening economic disparities, the loss of community.”
Related Links:
— “Cocaine, Meth, Opioids All Fuel Rise in Drug-Overdose Deaths, “Josh Ulick and Betsy McKay, The Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2018.