According to the Trust for
America's Health report, drug overdose deaths among teens and young adults have
increased rapidly in the US. The death rate due to drug overdose has increased
exponentially among people between the ages of 12 to 25, in the past decade.
The death rate has risen from 3.1 deaths per 100,000 in 1999-2001 to 7.3 deaths
in 2011-2013.
According to Jeffrey Levi,
executive director of the Trust for America's Health (a non-profit health
advocacy group) the deaths are increasing due to the nation's epidemic of
prescription drug abuse, and a subsequent rise in heroin use. Both of these
epidemics are hugely responsible for the drastic increase in deaths. The toll
of deaths from drug overdose is increasing in specific corners of the nation.
The report states, West Virginia had the highest rate of drug overdoses while
North Dakota had the lowest.
According to the trust's new “Reducing Teen Substance Misuse: What Really
Works” report published in the year 2013, prescription painkillers, such as
Vicodin and OxyContin were mainly responsible for most of the drug overdoses,
resulting in 22,700 deaths overall. Many
young adults who were using prescription drugs switched to heroin because it’s
cheaper and easily accessible.
“About 45% of people who use heroin are also addicted to painkillers.”
The drug overdose death rate for
young adults between 19-25 years old is 12.7% per 100,000, whereas kids 12-18
years of age, the death rates are 1.6% per 100,000.
The unexpected jump in death rates
in these two age groups is really dramatic, according to Levi. These stats raise the need for early drug
intervention, to prevent kids from drug abuse and addiction.
How To Stop Drug Abuse?
The real key to sustaining a sober
life in the US is to address the root cause of drug abuse and support the well
being of young adults. The one thing that can be done is to change the strategy
from drug intervention to drug prevention and promote sober living in America.
A change needs to be made because
more and more young adults are becoming addicted to substances, especially
opiates. This can be done by advising adults to use free prescription discount cards to buy their prescription
medicines.
