Cocaine deaths up in US, and opioids are a big part of it

After several years of decline, overdose deaths involving cocaine began rising around 2012. And they jumped by more than a third between 2016 and 2017.

The increase at least partly reflects trends in deaths from heroin, fentanyl and other opioid drugs. Many overdose deaths involve several different drugs. The CDC researchers found that nearly three-quarters of the deaths involving cocaine in 2017 were among people who had also taken opioids. But deaths involving cocaine alone also increased, said Lawrence Scholl of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the study's authors.Health officials say about 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2017. Nearly 48,000 involved at least one type of opioid. About 28,000 deaths involved fentanyl or some other kind of synthetic opioid, 15,500 involved heroin, and 14,500 involved prescription opioid painkillers.

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Cocaine deaths up in U.S. and opioids are a big part of itU.S. health officials say cocaine overdose deaths have been rising since 2012 and jumped a staggering 34 percent between 2016 and 2017. Impressive headline, considering cocaine & narcotics are different kinds of drugs.... Drugs kill more than anything else, directly through overdoses and indirectly through suicide! How many celebrities have we lost to drugs.. ? Sad there’s no mention of the tens of millions of marijuana deaths in our country every year .SportsTalkBarry
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »