Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Do most heroin overdoses in the United States also involve synthetic narcotics?
Sunday, November 15, 2020
By Alexander Pasch
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YES
According to the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, opioids were involved in nearly 70% of drug-related overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2018. While deaths involving heroin fell between 2017 and 2018, deaths involving synthetic opioids (including fentanyl) continued to rise, and were involved in more than two-thirds of all opioid-related deaths.
From 2010 to 2018, overdoses involving heroin without any other synthetic opioids rose by a factor of two. In the same time period, overdoses involving heroin and other synthetic opioids rose by a factor of over 200, representing 60% of all heroin-related overdoses by 2018.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
National Institute on Drug Abuse Overdose death rates
National Institute on Drug Abuse Overdose deaths involving select prescription and illicit drugs (downloaded spreadsheet)
US Centers for Disease Control Drug and opioid-involved overdose deaths, 2017–2018
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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