U.S. Drug-Related Deaths Soar, And It’s a Problem for Industry Too

David Taylor: "People need a reason to get up in the morning"

Random shootings and police shootings are again in the news. However, out of the spotlight, there are other death statistics that are equally shocking—and larger in scale. In 2014, Americans who died from drugs hit 49,714. That’s up 62% since 2004. Drug-induced deaths have surpassed deaths from firearms and deaths from car accidents. as you can see in Figure 1. (Deaths at the hands of the police totaled far less, 990 last year.) Drug-related deaths are caused by a variety of drugs, notably amphetamines, opioids, and heroin. But it is heroin-related deaths that have seen the most dramatic increase, up 594% between 2001 and 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control.