A grim tally soars: More than 50,000 overdose deaths in US
FILE - This Tuesday, May 19, 2015 file photo shows a firearm and 154 pounds of heroin worth at least $50 million displayed during a Drug Enforcement Administration news conference in New York. According to government data released Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 50,000 in 2015, the highest mark in at least 15 years. (Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)
By Mike Stobbe | AP December 8
NEW YORK — More than 50,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, the most ever.
The disastrous tally has been pushed to new heights by soaring abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers, a class of drugs known as opioids.
Heroin deaths rose 23 percent in one year, to 12,989, slightly higher than the number of gun homicides, according to government data released Thursday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-grim-tally-soars-more-than-50000-overdose-deaths-in-us/2016/12/08/2715a57a-bda3-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html?utm_term=.4a63a89ebaaf
