81%…
I have previously stolen a term from the horror genre.. A movie called THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN was about a Texas serial killer who to this date is unknown.. We now have hundreds of towns that dread sundown across America. The heroin epidemic isn’t slowing–no signs of even peaking… entire industries have changed, the economy has been effected, and medical professionals have had to alter their sense of purpose to shift into treating addicts who are brought in to hospitals seconds from death..
I have used this image before.. The poster for the movie.. the title and image somehow symbolize the current state of addiction. A faceless killer.. a quaint town.. a skyline with beauty.. and the fear of nightmare because of the urban and rural terrors of reality that await.
Recently TIME magazine dedicated their entire issue to the very real and horrible state of affairs we find ourselves in across the landscape of the United States.
And in Pennsylvania, the keystone state that houses my family, the newest and scary information showcasing just how bad this crisis has become: From 2015 to 2016, opioid overdose deaths increased 27.7%.
From July 2016 through September 2017, a total of 142,557 ED visits (15.7 per 10,000 visits) from 52 jurisdictions in 45 states were suspected opioid-involved overdoses. This rate increased on average by 5.6% per quarter. Rates increased across demographic groups and all five U.S. regions, with largest increases in the Southwest, Midwest, and West (approximately 7%–11% per quarter). In 16 states, 119,198 ED visits (26.7 per 10,000 visits) were suspected opioid-involved overdoses. Ten states (Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) experienced significant quarterly rate increases from third quarter 2016 to third quarter 2017, and in one state (Kentucky), rates decreased significantly. The highest rate increases occurred in large central metropolitan areas.
The worst is the Northeast. Not that other places are much better.
And if you think the nation as a whole is nearing the peak and slowdown of the problem? A graph will showcase the opposite:
…….is the problem new? or just worse?
For historical perspective TIME dedicated an entire issue to the horrid trend of addiction. But it’s not the first time that TIME used their cover to cover the issue…
