Chooper's Guide ... the Internet's most comprehensive substance abuse treatment, prevention and intervention resource directory.


 

 

Drug and Opioid Overdose Deaths — United States ~ 2000–2014

 

 

I

CDC analyzed recent multiple cause-of-death mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System to track current trends and shifting characteristics of drug overdose deaths. Opioids—primarily prescription pain relievers and heroin—are the main driver of overdose deaths. Opioids were involved in 28,647 deaths in 2014 and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 2000.

Significant increases in drug overdose death rates were seen in the Northeast, Midwest and South  Census Regions. In 2014, the five states with the highest rates of death due to drug overdose were West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio. States with statistically significant increases in the rate from 2013 to 2014 included Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.


TABLE. Number and age-adjusted rates of drug overdose deaths,* by sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, Census region, and state —United States, 2013 and 2014


Decedent characteristic

2013

2014

% change from 2013 to 2014

No.

Age-adjusted rate

No.

Age-adjusted rate

All

43,982

13.8

47,055

14.7

6.5§

Sex

Male

26,799

17.0

28,812

18.3

7.6§

Female

17,183

10.6

18,243

11.1

4.7§

Age group (yrs)

0–14

105

0.2

109

0.2

0.0

15–24

3,664

8.3

3,798

8.6

3.6

25–34

8,947

20.9

10,055

23.1

10.5§

35–44

9,320

23.0

10,134

25.0

8.7§

45–54

12,045

27.5

12,263

28.2

2.5

55–64

7,551

19.2

8,122

20.3

5.7§

≥65

2,344

5.2

2,568

5.6

7.7§

Race and Hispanic origin

White, non-Hispanic

35,581

17.6

37,945

19.0

8.0§

Black, non-Hispanic

3,928

9.7

4,323

10.5

8.2§

Hispanic

3,345

6.7

3,504

6.7

0.0

Census region of residence

Northeast

8,403

14.8

9,077

16.1

8.8§

Midwest

9,745

14.6

10,647

16.0

9.6§

South

15,519

13.1

16,777

14.0

6.9§

West

10,315

13.6

10,554

13.7

0.7

State of residence

Alabama

598

12.7

723

15.2

19.7§

Alaska

105

14.4

124

16.8

16.7

Arizona

1,222

18.7

1,211

18.2

-2.7

Arkansas

319

11.1

356

12.6

13.5

California

4,452

11.1

4,521

11.1

0.0

Colorado

846

15.5

899

16.3

5.2

Connecticut

582

16.0

623

17.6

10.0

Delaware

166

18.7

189

20.9

11.8

District of Columbia

102

15.0

96

14.2

-5.3

Florida

2,474

12.6

2,634

13.2

4.8

Georgia

1,098

10.8

1,206

11.9

10.2§

Hawaii

158

11.0

157

10.9

-0.9

Idaho

207

13.4

212

13.7

2.2

Illinois

1,579

12.1

1,705

13.1

8.3§

Indiana

1,064

16.6

1,172

18.2

9.6§

Iowa

275

9.3

264

8.8

-5.4

Kansas

331

12.0

332

11.7

-2.5

Kentucky

1,019

23.7

1,077

24.7

4.2

Louisiana

809

17.8

777

16.9

-5.1

Maine

174

13.2

216

16.8

27.3§

Maryland

892

14.6

1,070

17.4

19.2§

Massachusetts

1,081

16.0

1,289

19.0

18.8§

Michigan

1,553

15.9

1,762

18.0

13.2§

Minnesota

523

9.6

517

9.6

0.0

Mississippi

316

10.8

336

11.6

7.4

Missouri

1,025

17.5

1,067

18.2

4.0

Montana

137

14.5

125

12.4

-14.5

Nebraska

117

6.5

125

7.2

10.8

Nevada

614

21.1

545

18.4

-12.8

New Hampshire

203

15.1

334

26.2

73.5§

New Jersey

1,294

14.5

1,253

14.0

-3.4

New Mexico

458

22.6

547

27.3

20.8§

New York

2,309

11.3

2,300

11.3

0.0

North Carolina

1,259

12.9

1,358

13.8

7.0

North Dakota

20

2.8

43

6.3

125.0§

Ohio

2,347

20.8

2,744

24.6

18.3§

Oklahoma

790

20.6

777

20.3

-1.5

Oregon

455

11.3

522

12.8

13.3

Pennsylvania 2,426 19.4 2,732 21.9 12.9§
Rhode Island 241 22.4 247 23.4 4.5
South Carolina 620 13.0 701 14.4 10.8
South Dakota 55 6.9 63 7.8 13.0
Tennessee 1,187 18.1 1,269 19.5 7.7
Texas 2,446 9.3 2,601 9.7 4.3
Utah 594 22.1 603 22.4 1.4
Vermont 93 15.1 83 13.9 7.9
Virginia 854 10.2 900 11.7 14.7§ 
Washington 969 13.4 979 13.3 .07
West Virginia 570 32.2 627 35.5 10.2
Wisconsin 856 15.0 853 15.1 0.7
Wyoming 98 17.02 109 19.4 12.8