Overdose Deaths Reached Record High

[bwframe]

Overdose Deaths Reached Record High as the Pandemic Spread (Published 2021)

More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the yearlong period ending in April, government researchers said.

www.nytimes.com

Over 100,000 died of drug overdose in US during pandemic, a 29% increase from previous year: CDC

Experts believe the top drivers are the growing prevalence of deadly fentanyl in the illicit drug supply and the COVID-19 pandemic.

abc7chicago.com

Drug overdose deaths top 100,000 annually for the first time, driven by fentanyl, CDC data show | CNN

America's drug epidemic is the deadliest it has ever been, new federal data suggests.

www.cnn.com

 

[JTScribe]

A lot of people lost access to treatment programs due to churches and other gathering places being shut down.

 

[Ark]

A lot of people lost access to treatment programs due to churches and other gathering places being shut down.

And lost jobs, social activities, and everything else you use to fill your time and burn off your energy so you aren't sitting at home bored by yourself thinking about getting high.

Hell, I have no addiction problems and kept my job last year, and it was still scary how easy it was to flop down on the sofa and pound five or six whiskeys because there was crap all else to do. Must have been awful for people in recovery.

 

[Leadeye]

I wonder how much of this overdose statistic is being boosted by Fentanyl brought in across the border?

 

[OurDee]

I wonder how much of this overdose statistic is being boosted by Fentanyl brought in across the border?

that

 

[shibumiseeker]

Hell, I have no addiction problems and kept my job last year, and it was still scary how easy it was to flop down on the sofa and pound five or six whiskeys because there was crap all else to do. Must have been awful for people in recovery.

When you live on a farm there is NEVER nothing to do. I got a 3 month paid vacation last Spring and all that allowed me to do was catch up a bit on chores and start building our mountain bike trails. I could have used another three months off.

 

[Knight Rider]

I’ve done plenty of stupid stuff in my youth, some of which probably should have led to my early demise. That said, I don’t blame guns for gun violence and deaths and I don’t blame drugs for overdoses.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I wonder how much of this overdose statistic is being boosted by Fentanyl brought in across the border?

Solid question. Does this mean there are more drug users or that existing drug users are dying at a higher rate. Both can be true, of course.

 

[KokomoDave]

I believe that fent is becoming so commonplace in almost all illicit drugs from mj on up that accidental exposure is almost guaranteed so have lots of free narcan that a bystander can administer while you indulge in your poison. I hope you live to tell your testimony of what made you finally quit.

 

[actaeon277]

Who'd have thought that locking people in their homes, isolating them, adding to their stress of how to pay their bills and feed their families, would have adverse affects?

I mean really.
It's TOTALLY shocking.

And unpredictable.

Geez.

 

[Leadeye]

Solid question. Does this mean there are more drug users or that existing drug users are dying at a higher rate. Both can be true, of course.

The fentanyl just seems to be a wild card in the drug business, such small amounts producing such lethal results. The difference in concentration levels between high user and dead user may be very small. As somebody who ran a lab for many years I'm guessing that quality control is a pretty sketchy concept with the cartel.

 

[KittySlayer]

I wonder how much of this overdose statistic is being boosted by Fentanyl brought in across the border?

What border?

 

[fullmetaljesus]

This would probably drop if they would just legalize the green stuff.

 

[churchmouse]

I’ve done plenty of stupid stuff in my youth, some of which probably should have led to my early demise. That said, I don’t blame guns for gun violence and deaths and I don’t blame drugs for overdoses.

Bingo. Maybe Darwin is getting back on his J. O. B.

 

[Tryin']

This would probably drop if they would just legalize the green stuff.

I dunno. Most of the overdoses I attended last year were hard users. Weed was pretty far down the list of preferred substances.

 

[JeepHammer]

Overdose Deaths Reached Record High as the Pandemic Spread (Published 2021)

More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the yearlong period ending in April, government researchers said.

www.nytimes.com

Over 100,000 died of drug overdose in US during pandemic, a 29% increase from previous year: CDC

Experts believe the top drivers are the growing prevalence of deadly fentanyl in the illicit drug supply and the COVID-19 pandemic.

abc7chicago.com

Drug overdose deaths top 100,000 annually for the first time, driven by fentanyl, CDC data show | CNN

America's drug epidemic is the deadliest it has ever been, new federal data suggests.

www.cnn.com

People on organ transplant lists have risen over 250%,
Mostly can be traced back to excessive drinking/illegal drugs.

People seeking alcohol abuse help, along with alcohol offenses has shot way up,
Drunk driving in particular is way up since the COVID lockdowns.

Crushing pills and injecting/snorting them...
The coatings on those pills are designed to break down in digestive acids,
They don't disolve in liver, kidneys, lungs and plug up small passages.
Lung & liver transplants outstrip supply by over 1,000 to 1.

Drug related crime has shot way up since COVID lockdowns.
Residential burglary, robberies, car jackings, etc. (CAP or Crimes Against Persons) is way up since the COVID lockdowns started.

Customs are finding record amounts of meth, coke, heroin, (not sure if I'm spelling it correctly) fentanyl, seriously hard drugs...

Locally, law enforcement used ONE narcan dose in the first year they had it,
(10-12 years ago)

Its a substantial budget drain now.
The locals say they have to use it 2-3 times a week,
And sometimes they need 2-3 doses when using it to bring someone back since the drugs are so much stronger than they were 10-12 years ago...

I know there are a LOT of 'Personal Freedoms' people on here, but I can't see any good coming from decriminalization or legalization of drugs...

 

[churchmouse]

This would probably drop if they would just legalize the green stuff.

I have to agree yet I am still looking at the people I grew up around that took this path to their own self induced life’s destruction and ultimately their own self induced deaths and there have been more than I care to remember. To the individual there seemed to be something missing in motivation and just caring about what where and when. That life and it’s reality was so full of suck that they installed there own reality with any means at hand. The green stuff was just a step along the way but it’s effects became minimal in their search for alternative.

Some call it a gateway drug. Well yes it’s usually the entry level to this life’s style but we have to know our personal limits. Many are looking for more and the green stuff is not the high they need for escape.
I grew up in tha age of Aquarius so experimenting was the norm but done on a Friday night after getting paid for a weeks work. There was far to much going on in the real world to be accomplished to let anything stop it.

So in my mind legalizing is not going to change anything yet may induce a weaker mind to follow the human Lemmings off that cliff. Maybe not.

I feel strangely like I am channeling Jeep Hammer.

 

[JeepHammer]

I dunno. Most of the overdoses I attended last year were hard users. Weed was pretty far down the list of preferred substances.

One of our idiot representatives was talking about 'Pot Needles'...

She actually believed people got aids & hepititus from injecting pot.

We need smarter & more qualified politicians...

 

[churchmouse]

One of our idiot representatives was talking about 'Pot Needles'...

She actually believed people got aids & hepititus from injecting pot.

We need smarter & more qualified politicians...

Well this has been the norm for way to many years. She needs better handlers. Or not.
We need a more informed voting populace.

 

[JeepHammer]

I have to agree yet I am still looking at the people I grew up around that took this path to their own self induced life’s destruction and ultimately their own self induced deaths and there have been more than I care to remember. To the individual there seemed to be something missing in motivation and just caring about what where and when. That life and it’s reality was so full of suck that they installed there own reality with any means at hand. The green stuff was just a step along the way but it’s effects became minimal in their search for alternative.

Some call it a gateway drug. Well yes it’s usually the entry level to this life’s style but we have to know our personal limits. Many are looking for more and the green stuff is not the high they need for escape.
I grew up in tha age of Aquarius so experimenting was the norm but done on a Friday night after getting paid for a weeks work. There was far to much going on in the real world to be accomplished to let anything stop it.

So in my mind legalizing is not going to change anything yet may induce a weaker mind to follow the human Lemmings off that cliff. Maybe not.

I feel strangely like I am channeling Jeep Hammer.

Well, anything is possible...

'Gateway Drugs',
I know pot heads that have never done hard drugs,
I don't know of a single hard drug junkie that didn't start with alcohol.

Im sure there are exceptions, but research shows the earlier you start drinking the more likely you are to progress to drugs, and then harder drugs.
Some people stop at drinking, some move to pot and like it better, and don't go any farther,
But the really hard drug users all seem to say they started drinking around 12-13 and progressed to harder stuff...

I can't tell you personally, never had those monkeys on my back, I had enough issues with gun, race car, etc addictions, no money for drugs...

With the current mindset it's difficult to remind people WHY most drug laws were started...
Some were fear mongering 'Jim Crow' laws, I'll grant that upfront.

Most were simply because pretty much everyone recognized the addictions & dangers of these drugs.

I went to school in the 60s-70s,
I CLEARLY remember the teachers & government propaganda saying that COCAINE WAS NOT ADDICTIVE...

I guess we know better now?

But then again, cigarettes were supposed to be good for you, shilled by doctors, actually prescribed for weight control, nausea, for pregnant women, stomach conditions, etc.

I guess we know better now?

Since the opioid crisis, and the HUGE cutbacks in prescriptions, those users have turned to heroin & fentanyl in increasing numbers...

What I can tell you from first hand experience with people in my family,
Even if you get a meth junky off the stuff,
They never really come back.
It changes them fundamentally, at the core.
If they do get clean, they are more like a hollow shell of the person you knew.