Congress Must Do More to Address Opioid Epidemic

When signing the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, into law last month, President Barack Obama said, “Every day, 78 Americans die from opioid overdoses.” Indeed, the size of the epidemic is astounding: Currently, more than 2 million Americans suffer from an opioid abuse disorder. In 2014 alone, 47,055 people died from drug overdoses in the United States and 61 percent of those deaths were due to opioid overuse. This corresponds to approximately 28,700 opioid-related deaths annually and nearly 80 deaths per day. However, the problem has not always been this severe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the national number of opioid drug overdoses has nearly quadrupled in the past 15 years.

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