DRUG DEATHS PER YEAR

Do you ever wonder how many people die each year because of drug abuse or use? How about between 16,000 and 19,000 "give or take" per year (or as much as 52 per day). I think we have started wars for less. I bet the unknown "indirect" number is much greater.

Please keep in mind that when comparing these figures with other mortality numbers it is important to consider the “days of life lost” numbers (which are not published). For example, assume someone smokes for 30 years and dies of cancer at the age of 50. We could “guess” that this cost this person 20 years of life, give or take. Now assume that someone overdoses, or has a fatal driving accident as the result of using cocaine at the age of 20. Again assume that this person would have lived until he or she was 70; and therefore, this person lost 50 years of life (or 2.5 times as much as the smoker). It is the days lost of life that is the real number. [This might also be applied to those in prison from drugs?]

This example could also demonstrate that one could die or go to jail from using cocaine for one year. However, it would take this same person decades to die from smoking. This is just a simplified example, but goes to the dangers, complexity of drug use.

I have not considered all the variables, but including indirect deaths and prison time, it does not seem to unreasonable to suggest that in any given year our country loses 300,000 "years of (productive) life." This number might compare to around 120,000 smoking deaths. This is just an example, but hopefully you get the point.

Finally, please remember that 66 percent of the cocaine comes into the United States from Mexico (via Colombia?). Just about this much of the "meth" comes into the United States from Mexico. A good amount of the heroin also comes into the United States from Mexico. See the DEA for more details.

NCHS

ONDCP

". . . According to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 11.7 million Americans ages 12 and older reported trying methamphetamine at least once during their lifetimes, representing 4.9% of the population ages 12 and older. Approximately 1.4 million (0.6%) reported past year methamphetamine use and 583,000 (0.2%) reported past month methamphetamine use. . . "

". . . Of an estimated 106 million emergency department (ED) visits in the U.S. during 2004, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) estimates that 1,997,993 were drug-related. DAWN data indicate that methamphetamine was involved in 73,400 ED visits. . ."

DEA

". . . Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are the most influential drug traffickers and the greatest organizational threat to the United States.

Colombian DTOs and criminal groups are in the process of reducing their direct involvement in domestic drug distribution, including the distribution of South American heroin.

The vast majority of drugs available in the United States are supplied by a multitude of foreign- and domestic-based DTOs and criminal groups (see Appendix A, Map 3). Mexican DTOs and criminal groups, however, have become and will remain, for the foreseeable future, the most influential drug traffickers and the greatest organizational threat to the United States. Nonetheless, other traffickers including Colombian, Dominican, Asian, Russian-Israeli, and Jamaican DTOs and criminal groups are and will remain inextricably involved in drug trafficking within the United States at significant yet varying degrees.

Mexican Organizations

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups exhibit far greater influence over drug trafficking in the United States than any other group, and their influence is increasing, particularly with respect to cocaine and methamphetamine distribution. Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are the predominant cocaine transporters and wholesale distributors in the country and also produce, transport, and distribute much of the heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine available in U.S. drug markets. . . ."

NIDA

Bennett

According to CDC:

". . . In 2003, a total of 28,723 persons died of drug-induced causes in the United States (Tables 21 and 22). The category ‘‘drug-induced causes’’ includes not only deaths from dependent and nondependent use of drugs (legal and illegal use), but also poisoning from medically prescribed and other drugs. It excludes unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to drug use. Also excluded are newborn deaths due to mother’s drug use. (For a list of drug-induced causes, see ‘‘Technical Notes.’’) In 2003, the age-adjusted death rate for drug-induced causes for males was 1.8 times the rate for females. The age-adjusted rate for the white population was 1.1 times the rate for the black population (Table 21). . ."

State Index

6 States for 2003 (Maine = 140, Maryland = 700, NH = 130, NM = 330, Utah = 375, and Vermont = 100). These numbers suggest the total could be around 40,000. I wonder?

Congressional Record

". . . I have cited a most recent statistic, which is 15,973 Americans died in 1998, the last figures we have total for drug-related deaths. And according to our drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, who testified before our subcommittee, over 52,000 Americans died in the last recorded year of drug-related deaths either directly or indirectly. . .

. . . We do not know the exact figure because sometimes a child who is beaten to death by a parent who is on illegal narcotics is not counted as a victim. Sometimes a spouse who is abused to the point of death is not counted as a victim. Sometimes a bus driver who is on an illegal narcotic that has had a fatal vehicle crash, the number of victims there are not counted in the tally. But we do know the total is dramatic."

New Dawn

Drug War Facts

". . . The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435,000 deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity (400,000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85,000 deaths; 3.5%). Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75,000), toxic agents (55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors (20,000), and illicit use of drugs (17,000). . .

. . . In 2000 data, 16,653 deaths from alcohol-related crashes are included in both alcohol consumption and motor vehicle death categories. . ."

Charts & Graphs

US Drug Related Deaths

BBSNews

Criminal Justice

CDC

The Big Picture


Some more drug facts regarding our kids:

Prevalence
Percent of persons 12 years of age and over with any illicit drug use in the past month: 8.2 (2003)

Percent of persons 12 years of age and over with marijuana use in the past month: 6.2 (2003)

Percent of persons 12 years of age and over with any nonmedical use of a psychotherapeutic drug in the past month: 2.7 (2003)

Source: Health, United States, 2005, table 66