Citation

Paulozzi LJ. Am. J. Public Health 2006; 96(10): 1755-1757.

Affiliation

Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga 30341, USA. lbp4@cdc.gov

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2005.071647

PMID

17008568

PMCID

PMC1586142

Abstract

I measured the role of opioid analgesics in drug abuse-related deaths in a consistent panel of 28 metropolitan areas from the Drug Abuse Warning Network. The number of reports of opioid analgesics increased 96.6% from 1997 to 2002; methadone, oxycodone, and unspecified opioid analgesics accounted for 74.3% of the increase. Oxycodone reports increased 727.8% (from 72 to 596 reports). By 2002, opioid analgesics were noted more frequently than were heroin or cocaine. Dramatic increases in the availability of such opioids have made their abuse a major, growing problem.

Language: en