Overdose deaths may have topped 90,000 in 2020

[Bootes Void]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/07/health-202-overdose-deaths-may-have-topped-90000-2020/

Early data indicate President Biden faces an even worse opioid abuse epidemic than former president Donald Trump.

Final data won’t be available until near the end of this year. But an analysis of preliminary data by the Commonwealth Fund found that shortly after the pandemic started, monthly overdose deaths spiked 50 percent to more than 9,000 deaths in May.

Based on additional estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggesting that deaths remained elevated for much of the rest of 2020, Commonwealth researchers estimated the year’s total overdose deaths could have exceeded 90,000 — up from 70,630 in 2019. That would be the largest single-year percentage increase in the past two decades.

“Coronavirus will stabilize, but you’re going to see overdoses go up, sadly,” said Gary Mendell, founder of the group Shatterproof, which seeks to reduce stigma around seeking help for opioid use disorder.

[Benjamin Frank]

Legalize drugs.

[7,052,770]

Trump betrayed the people who believed in him in so many ways.

[ultraviolet]

Legalize drugs.

And this would prevent overdoses how?

[Benjamin Frank]

Legalize drugs.

And this would prevent overdoses how?

Because the opioids are unregulated due to them being illegal there is no quality control.

"Many family members and peers of those who have died are working hard to prevent more deaths, and as a health authority we must do the same. We must learn from the circumstances surrounding each death, to address the underlying causes and address gaps in our response to date. This is the primary goal of this report. The evidence presented here indicates that replacing the unregulated, illegal supply of opioids with legal alternatives must rise to the top of our priority list, and requires our urgent attention."


and

"Drug checking is a harm reduction service that provides clients with valuable information about the composition of their drugs, including whether they are likely to contain potent opioids, such as fentanyl. Drug checking can also provide useful information about the presence of other substances, like synthetic cannabinoids, metformin, detergent, and plaster, that can cause harm to people who unknowingly ingest them. When these substances are found in the drug supply and reported to VCH’s RADAR system, alerts can be sent out to the community. Drug checking is currently offered at supervised consumption sites, overdose prevention sites, and as part of housing overdose prevention services"
http://www.vch.ca/Documents/CMHO-report.pdf

Vancouver Chief Medical Health Officer Report, 2018.

[Ferguson97]

Legalize drugs.

And this would prevent overdoses how?

People can go to hospitals without fear of being arrested?

[Del Tachi]

Trump betrayed the people who believed in him in so many ways.

Get off.