A person is more likely to die of an opioid overdose than a car crash in the U.S., according to data released by the National Safety Council.
It’s the first time on record, the agency said.
The report shows that in 2017, the odds of people dying of opioid overdoses was in 1 in 96 compared to 1 in 103 in motor vehicle crashes.
The National Safety Council lists drug poisoning as the leading cause of unintentional deaths in the U.S., with more than 100 people dying from opioid drugs per day. It cites painkillers as driving addiction and overdoses, with a reported 2 million people with painkiller substance use disorders.
The council reported that most of the preventable drug overdose deaths involved opioids, with a 106 percent increase in 2016 from the prior year in preventable overdose deaths involving fentanyl, followed by heroin with a 19 percent increase in 2016 from 2015.
Read the full story via The Denver Post.