Drug Overdose: The Real American Epidemic

Recently, there has been much talk of various "epidemics" in America. The three most commonly mentioned are suicide, gun violence, and drug overdose. A close examination of the data, however, reveals two surprises: First, one of them is not actually an epidemic. Second, one of them is a much bigger epidemic than most people realize.

The "suicide epidemic" (red line) has received the most attention as of late. This is for good reason. At a rate of 12.54 deaths per 100,000 Americans, the suicide rate is at a 25-year high. The CDC, which provides publicly accessible data (via WISQARS) from 1999 to 2012, shows that the suicide rate over that period has increased by nearly 19.7%.

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