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Drug Overdose Deaths

At the current rate of drug overdose deaths in the United States, what is the average lifetime chance of dying from a drug overdose?

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If drug overdose deaths continue at their current rate, one in every 39 people in the U.S. will ultimately die of a drug overdose. Per a 2022 paper in the Journal of Adolescent Health, "Adolescents are at a greater risk of death from substance use due to increased risk-taking behaviors, lack of experience, lower tolerance levels, and an optimistic bias that they are invincible to overdose." The paper also notes that less dangerous drugs are often laced with highly toxic drugs like fentanyl, and people overdose because they are unaware of this. Contrary to claims that legalizing marijuana and providing more drug treatment through laws like Obamacare would reduce such deaths, the drug overdose death rate has quintupled since 2000, and more than 100,000 people per year are now dying in this manner. Mexico is the primary source for these drugs, and the U.S. border with Mexico is currently less secure than ever recorded in the nation's history.




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