Public health officials in Kalamazoo recently reported on opioid overdoses and deaths. It said,in part that "whiile the amount of opioids prescribed in Kalamazoo County decreased by 23% from 2010 to 2015, it was higher than the 2015 national average and more than four times higher than the 1999 national average.On average, 24 Kalamazoo County residents were treated each month for unintentional overdoses (13 for heroin, 11 for other opioids) at a local emergency room in 2016.From 2015 to 2016, the number of accidental drug-related deaths more than doubled from 33 to 72. Most of these deaths involved opioids; accidental opioid-related deaths doubled from 29 to 59 overthe same time period, for an average of five permonth. In the first nine months of 2017, there were 47 accidental, drug-related deaths; 38 involvedopioids. During 2016, more people died of an accidental drug-related overdose in Kalamazoo County." (see for link)
So if 24 people were treated for accidental overdoses each month, imagine all the people who used opioids but did not overdose. Thoughts?
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