The Opioid Overdose Crisis
Related Chapters:
- Addictive Properties of Various Drugs
- Estimated Annual Causes of Death in the US
- Diversion of Prescription Drugs
- Drug Use Prevalence
- Fentanyl
- Heroin
- Heroin-Assisted Treatment
- Ibogaine
- Methadone and Opioid Substitution Treatment
- Overdose
- Pain Management and Prescription Drugs
- Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Social Reintegration
- Supervised Consumption Facilities
- Syringe Service Programs
- Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
Looking for a referral to, or more information about, mental health or substance use treatment services? The American Board of Preventive Medicine provides this service to locate physicians who are certified in specialists in Addiction Medicine
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a free, confidential National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
"SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information."
SAMHSA's website also offers a free, confidential Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator.
Page last updated June 10, 2020 by Doug McVay, Editor/Senior Policy Analyst.
|
51. Likelihood That Young People with Diagnosed Mental Health Conditions Will be Put on Long Term Opioid Therapy "In this nationwide study of commercially insured adolescents, LTOT [Long Term Opioid Therapy] was relatively uncommon. The estimated incidence of LTOT receipt was 3.0 per 1000 adolescents within 3 years of filling an initial opioid prescription. Although adolescents with a wide range of preexisting mental health conditions and treatments were modestly more likely than adolescents without those conditions or treatments to receive an initial opioid, the former had substantially higher rates of subsequent transitioning to LTOT. Associations were strongest for OUD [Opioid Use Disorder], OUD medications, nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics, and other SUDs. The associations were stronger sooner after first opioid receipt for OUD, as well as for anxiety and sleep disorders and their treatments, suggesting that adolescents with these conditions and treatments were more likely to quickly transition into LTOT." Quinn PD, Hur K, Chang Z, et al. Association of Mental Health Conditions and Treatments With Long-term Opioid Analgesic Receipt Among Adolescents. JAMA Pediatr. 2018;172(5):423–430. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.5641 |
|
52. Association of Opioid Overdose Laws with Opioid Use and Mortality " Naloxone access laws that ease restrictions on naloxone possession and distribution are associated with a 20% reduction overdose deaths among African-Americans. McClellan, Chandler, Lambdin, Barrot H., et al. Opioid-overdose laws association with opioid use and overdose mortality. Addictive Behaviors. March 19, 2018. |
|
53. Deaths from Drug Overdose in the United States in 2015 "During 2015, drug overdoses accounted for 52,404 U.S. deaths, including 33,091 (63.1%) that involved an opioid. There has been progress in preventing methadone deaths, and death rates declined by 9.1%. However, rates of deaths involving other opioids, specifically heroin and synthetic opioids other than methadone (likely driven primarily by illicitly manufactured fentanyl) (2,3), increased sharply overall and across many states." Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L. Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2010–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:1445–1452. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm655051e1 |
|
54. Rise in Opiate Prescriptions in US "Even though opioids have been controlled in the United States with regulations and restrictions, opioid utilization has been increasing at an unprecedented pace (1-10). Manchikanti et al (1), in an evaluation of opioid usage over a period of 10 years, showed an overall increase of 149% in retail sales of opioids from 1997 to 2007 in the United States, with an increase of 1,293% for methadone, 866% for oxycodone, and 525% for fentanyl. Similarly, the increase in therapeutic opioid use in the United States in milligrams per person from 1997 to 2007 increased 402% overall, with the highest increase in methadone of 1,124% mg/person and oxycodone of 899% mg/person." Christo,Paul J.; Manchikanti, Laxmaiah; Ruan, Xiulu; Bottros, Michael; Hansen, Hans; Solanki, Daneshvari R.; Jordan, Arthur E.; and Colson, James , "Urine Drug Testing In Chronic Pain," Pain Physician (Paducah, KY: American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, March/April 2011), Vol. 14, Issue 2, p. 124. |
|
55. Likelihood That Young People with Diagnosed Mental Health Conditions Will be Put on Long Term Opioid Therapy "Of the 1,000,453 opioid recipients (81.7%) with at least 6 months of follow-up, 51.1% were female, and the median age was 17 years (interquartile range, 16-18 years). Among these adolescents, the estimated cumulative incidence of LTOT [Long Term Opioid Therapy] after first opioid receipt was 1.1 (95% CI, 1.1-1.2) per 1000 recipients within 1 year, 3.0 (95% CI, 2.8-3.1) per 1000 recipients within 3 years, 8.2 (95% CI, 7.8-8.6) per 1000 recipients within 6 years, and 16.1 (95% CI, 14.2-18.0) per 1000 recipients within 10 years. The prevalence of mental health conditions and treatments in this sample is shown in eTable 3 in the Supplement. "All mental health conditions and treatments were associated with higher rates of transitioning from a first opioid prescription to long-term therapy. Table 2 provides the estimated incidence of LTOT among those with and without mental health conditions and treatments.Adjusted relative increases in the rate of LTOT ranged from a factor of 1.73 for ADHD [Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder] (hazard ratio [HR], 1.73; 95% CI, 1.54-1.95) to approximately 4-fold for benzodiazepines (HR, 3.88; 95%CI, 3.39-4.45) and nonopioid SUDs [Substance Use Disorders] (HR, 4.02;95%CI, 3.48-4.65) to 6-fold for non benzodiazepine hypnotics (HR, 6.15; 95%CI, 5.01-7.55) and to nearly 9-fold for OUD [Opioid Use Disorder] (HR, 8.90; 95%CI, 5.85-13.54). In addition, relative to no condition, the number of condition types was also associated with higher LTOT rates (1 condition: HR, 2.21; 95% CI, 2.01-2.43; 2 or more conditions: HR, 4.01; 95% CI, 3.62-4.46). "Given the strong associations for OUD, we explored other mental health factors and opioid receipt among those with preexisting OUD. These adolescents were more likely than Quinn PD, Hur K, Chang Z, et al. Association of Mental Health Conditions and Treatments With Long-term Opioid Analgesic Receipt Among Adolescents. JAMA Pediatr. 2018;172(5):423–430. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2017.5641 |