cnsnews
susan jones june 7, 6:32 AM
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/doj-60000-drug-overdose-deaths-2016-largest-annual-increase-american[excerpt]
(CNSNews.com) – “For Americans under the age of 50, drug overdoses now are the leading cause of death,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told employees of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday.
“On an average day, 90 Americans will die from an opioid-related overdose. About four people will overdose and die while we sit here this morning,” Rosenstein said.
Outlining the “horrifying surge in drug overdoses,” Rosenstein noted that in 2015, more than 52,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses, 33,000 of them from heroin, fentanyl and other opioids.
“The preliminary numbers for 2016 show an increase to almost 60,000 deaths. That will be the largest annual increase in American history,” Rosenstein said.
And the opioid crisis is posing new dangers to law enforcement and other first responders, he warned:
Fentanyl is 30 to 50 times more deadly than heroin. Just 2 milligrams – the equivalent of a few grains of table salt – an amount that can fit on the tip of your finger – can be lethal.
Thank Dog the FDA is on the case, approving drugs like this, or we'd really be in trouble.
