The number of annual deaths from drug overdoses in the United States has tripled in the past 15 years, from 17,500 in 2000 to 52,500 in 2015.[i] Most of these deaths involved opioids, including heroin and prescription painkillers.[ii] Although the incidence of opioid-related deaths has grown for more than a decade, the problem began drawing substantially more attention from policymakers, the news media, and the public since 2011, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared overdoses from prescription painkillers an “epidemic.” More recently, heroin use also has received increasing attention as deaths related to the illegal cousin of prescription painkillers more than tripled between 2010 and 2015.[iii]

SHADAC had produced two briefs that provide high-level information about opioids and opioid addiction, present the historical context for the epidemic of opioid-related addiction and mortality in the United States, and examine trends in opioid-related mortality across the country and among population subgroups as well as among the states.

The Opioid Epidemic:  National Trends in Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths from 2000 to 2015	The Opioid Epidemic:  State Trends in Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths from 2000 to 2015

Interactive Maps

For an interactive glimpse at the trends explored in these briefs, we have created two slider maps covering the 2000 to 2015 time period for heroin-related and non-heroin opioid-related overdose deaths:

Heroin-Related Overdose Deaths, 2000-2015	Non-heroin Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths, 2000-2015