Page 7 - Addiction and Overdose: Confronting an American Crisis

examiner—a doctor who investigates suspicious deaths—would run blood
tests to determine the specific cause of death.
Currently, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death
in the United States, surpassing deaths from auto accidents, suicides, and
guns. Suicide and drugs are linked. While eight out of ten overdose deaths
are accidents, one-third of the people who die from suicide are under the
influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. Drug abuse can lead to depression,
which in turn can lead to suicide by purposeful overdose.
Between 1999 and 2014, the number of deaths from auto accidents
fell and deaths by gun violence rose only slightly. However, drug overdose
deaths nearly tripled in that period and they keep rising. Just over 52,400
people in the United States died of drug overdoses in 2015, the latest year for
which the US government has complete figures. These deaths affected tens
of thousands of others as well. Most people who die from an overdose leave
behind family members and friends who face a lifetime of grieving.
DRUG-INDUCED VERSUS OTHER DEATHS

50,000
45,000
40,000
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Number of deaths 30,000
35,000

25,000
20,000

15,000
10,000
2004
2010
2009
2007
2005
2006
2012
2013
2014
2008
2011
Drug poisoning 27,424 29,813 34,425 36,010 36,450 37,004 38,329 31,340 41,502 43,982 47,055
Suicide 32,439 32,673 33,300 34,598 36,035 36,909 38,364 39,518 40,600 41,149 42,773
Homicide 17,357 18,124 18,573 18,361 17,826 16,799 16,259 16,238 16,688 16,121 15,809
Firearms 29,569 30,694 30,896 31,224 31,593 31,347 31,672 32,351 35,563 33,636 33,674
Motor vehicle 44,933 45,343 45,316 43,945 39,790 36,216 35,332 35,303 36,415 35,369 35,398

This graph, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that drug-induced deaths in the
United States are far outpacing the number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents, gun-related incidents,
and other lethal events.
Addiction and Overdose in AmericA 7