Posted on 11/06/2015 11:29:39 AM PST by familyop
(CNSNews.com) - "Drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States, ahead of motor vehicle deaths and firearms (deaths)," the Drug Enforcement Agency announced on Wednesday.
In 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, 46,471 people in the United States died from drug overdoses, and more than half of those deaths were caused by prescription painkillers and heroin.
That compares with the 35,369 who died in motor vehicle crashes and 33,636 who died from firearms, as tallied by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Sadly this report confirms what we’ve known for some time: drug abuse is ending too many lives while destroying families and communities,†Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said as he released the 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment.
“We must stop drug abuse before it begins by teaching young people at an even earlier age about its many dangers and horrors."
Rosenberg spoke one day after Ohio voters rejected a ballot proposal that would have legalized both recreational and medical marijuana use. But 23 other states and Washington, D.C., allow the use of marijuana for medicinal and/or recreational purposes.
The DEA ranks controlled prescription drugs and heroin as the most significant drug threats to the United States.
It also views marijuana concentrates, with potency levels far exceeding those of leaf marijuana, as an "issue of growing concern."
Meanwhile, the issue of drug abuse is making its way into the presidential campaign, as some of the candidates talk about their personal experience with addictions and even deaths.
"My husband, Frank, and I buried a child to drug addiction," Carly Fiorina said at one of the Republican debates.
Jeb Bush's daughter was arrested on drug-related charges in 2002, and she has spent time in rehab. He has discussed this at some of his campaign stops.
And a video of Chris Christie talking about his good friend who became addicted to painkillers -- and died -- has now gone viral.
The National Drug Threat Assessment also discusses the traffickers, concluding that "Mexican gangs remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States."
The DEA notes that, according to reports from law enforcement, some of these Mexican gangs are "relocating from major metropolitan areas to establish bases of operation in suburban or rural areas."
Note: This “problem” was made moot when Colorado showed that drug tourism brings in major tax revenue.
It’s already damn near impossible to get anything stronger than ‘Tylenol’, even while literally suffering in a hospital bed(been there/done that). The government has the providers running scared, leaving lots of people looking to the illegal alternatives.
As with most issues, gov asserts itself to solve some “problem”, only to make it worse.
President BO will speak out on this when it significantly impacts the Muslim community. (It’s already impacting the black community significantly and he doesn’t care.)
There was a time (1966-1973 and 1978-1980) when vehicle accident deaths topped 50K in the US but advancing safety technology and other factors have dropped the numbers down in the 30k something range nowadays.
That I should have looked up the suicide stats before posting, I was way off. I wasn't aware that so many suicides were by gun.
People only die of drug use/abuse because they CHOOSE to use drugs. I have more sympathy for people who choose suicide by gun (killing oneself deliberately must spring from some deep inner hurt) than for those who take the crapshoot of drug use and roll snake eyes.
That's true. But they can die of drug overdose due to medical errors, either in the prescription or administration of drugs, and those get included in the stats.
Its good that we have the drug industry highly regulated by the government or this could get out of hand.
More people die from the flu each year than are killed by guns.
PATIENTS KILLED BY THE WRONG PRESCRIPTION
They pretty much quit doing the study because it was too embarrassing for Amerika’s doctors, but the last I heard which I was unable to find was about 120,000, statistics from 2010 have it at 100,000
PATIENTS KILLED BY THE WRONG PRESCRIPTION
“Indeed, U.S. data published in 1991 suggested as many as 98,000 deaths per year might be due to medical errors. In the new survey, based on almost 1,700 patients at seven clinics, eight percent said they had experienced ‘a lot’ or ‘severe’ harm from the perceived mistake in care.â€
To those that were accidental my prayers to their family and friends....
To those that were not accidental....thanks for removing yourself from the gene pool.
Stay Safe Familyop !
Yes, because kindergarten is much, much too late.
It's not lack of information, Mr. Government Stooge. It's not lack of laws, or mandatory sentencing, or pretty much anything that Daddy Government can do. It's The Culture, Stupid.
And, it’s getting worse with Daddy Government now making it impossible for people with allergies to get OTC decongestants without a prescription.
gun deaths are suicide.
______________
About half the gun deaths are suicide
The criminals will certainly obey those laws according to the thought processes of the Lefties.
They should make “Drug Free Zones” in the worst part of the inner cities. Then no one will use them, because it would be illegal.../s
If I were to ever ‘self checkout’, I wouldn’t use a firearm. I wouldn’t want to leave a nasty mess for someone else to clean up, and likely have my gun added to some cop’s personal collection after a couple or so years of collecting dust in an evidence room. I’d probably gulp down a handful of pills, with a strong drink, and go to sleep.
Knowing my luck I’d wake up 3 days later in a dammed hospital with a terrible headache.....
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