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According to preliminary data from the US agency CDC, a record number of people died from drug overdoses in 2021. The coronavirus pandemic has caused the previously rising numbers to accelerate even more. The data from the last two years are terrifying.
- In the United States, 2021 died from drug overdoses in 108. people. This is the largest number ever
- It’s about 50 percent. more than in 2019
- In recent years, there has been a “radical change” in the supply of illegal substances in the US
- Synthetic opioids are driving natural drugs out of the market
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Record number of deaths from drug overdoses in the US
According to the data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2021 in the United States, almost 108 died of drug overdose. people. Two-thirds of these deaths were related to fentanyl or another synthetic opioid.
The number of drug overdose deaths in the United States has steadily increased in recent years, but this trend has increased even more in the wake of the pandemic. In 2020, the number of deaths was 30 percent. higher than the year before. In the following year, the dynamics decreased, but the increase was still clear. In 2021, it was by 14 thousand. more deaths (15%) than in 2020 As a result, the number of deaths in 2021 was almost 50 percent. higher than in 2019
– This is a continuation of the tragic trend. Overdose death rates have been increasing for decades, increasing at an unprecedented rate just before the US COVID-19 pandemic began, said Dr. Nora Volkow, psychiatrist and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
The pandemic has accelerated a phenomenon that had already gone in the wrong direction. According to experts, reversing the trend will require concentrated efforts on many fronts and it will take a very long time.
Earlier, Katherine Keyes, a professor at Columbia University School of Public Health and a specialist in psychiatric epidemiology and drug use, said that easing the pandemic would not work immediately. – The deceleration will not come to the same extent as the acceleration has occurred. Drug distribution and addiction networks are already firmly established in the community. And it’s not like it will disappear overnight, Keyes said.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Keyes was part of a research team that modeled its potential impact on drug-related numbers. They calculated that even if the pandemic ends overnight, the scale of drug overdoses will continue for at least a year.
It was bad, it gets worse
Even before the pandemic, drug addicts reported drug-related shortages in the United States. In 2019, more than 20 million people aged 12 and over reported addiction-related problems, but only 10 percent of the US Department of Health reports. of them were cared for.
Access to treatment has deteriorated further during the pandemic, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which deals with public health.
Volkow emphasizes that in the last two decades there has been a “radical change” in the supply of illegal substances in the United States.
Previously, the main causes of overdose deaths were the abuse of heroin and prescription drugs. However, since fentanyl and other synthetic opioids started making their way into the drug market a few years ago, we have seen changes. The greater supply of profitable, easy-to-produce and extremely dangerous drugs has dramatically increased the risk and susceptibility to deaths from drug overdoses, says the psychiatrist.
The increasing use of synthetic drugs caught the attention of experts even before the pandemic, and after the outbreak of the pandemic, the problem was exacerbated. Volkow explains that in the age of travel restrictions, it is easier to manufacture and more condensed synthetic opioids than natural drugs to smuggle across the border.
As the CDC data shows, deaths from overdoses of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, as well as psychostimulants like methamphetamine and cocaine, increased between 2020 and 2021. By contrast, numbers related to natural or semi-synthetic drugs, such as prescription drugs, have dropped slightly.
– This is a devastating milestone in the history of drug overdoses in the United States. When we talk about data, we need to remember that each number is not about the victim, but also about their family and community, notes Volkow. – We have not made full use of existing therapies that could help many people. We need to meet people wherever we can prevent overdose, reduce possible harm, and use proven treatments and reduce drug use, ‘she added.
Deodorants kill too
The CDC report coincided with the increasing deaths of adolescents as a result of heavy inhalation of deodorants. Young people use these preparations to intoxicate themselves with butane or ethanol, i.e. ethyl alcohol.
Recently, foreign media wrote about the case of 16-year-old Australian Brooke Ryan. Her mother, Anne Ryan, found the girl lying dead on the floor of her bedroom. The coroner’s report has yet to be released, but the woman believes her daughter died of a heart attack caused by inhaling deodorant.
Brooke had previously suffered from mental disorders and anxiety attacks. Her condition worsened during the pandemic. The girl’s family was obviously aware of her health problems, but her mother had no idea that she inhaled deodorants. Anne Ryan now wants to educate other parents about inhalation abuse and speak out about the warning signals.
In addition to the frequent use of these products at home, symptoms suggesting that a child may use inhalation deodorants include frequent headaches, traces of chemicals on clothes and towels, confusion, slurred speech and loss of appetite, according to Australia. He also wants clear warnings to appear on deodorant packages, and schools to educate them about this.
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Doctors emphasize that sudden death in a young person can occur even after a single inhalation. The American National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that between 100 and 200 young people in the United States die each year as a result of inhaling deodorant.
There are also fatal cases in Poland. According to the data of the Gdańsk Addiction Prevention Center three years ago, 12 percent. adolescents who were addicted declared that they had inhaled spray deodorants.
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