It’s been known for a very long time that opioids can stimulate humans and push them to try harder drugs like cocaine. What may not have been quite clear is how much damage this push to cocaine is causing Americans.
According to research findings carried out by experts from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the CDC, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there is a noticeable increase in heroin and synthetic opioid intake. This has in turn led to many people dying from cocaine overdose.
According to the report, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people who die from the abusive use of cocaine between the year 2000 and 2006. It however notes that from 2006 to 2010, a time when the supply was significantly reduced and prices increased, cocaine mortality dropped. The report does note that there was another increase in the number of cocaine-related deaths after 2010, despite a decrease in its intake.
According to the researchers, the increase after 2010 results from more people getting involved in opioids which then leads them to cocaine overdose. The researchers say the increased number of deaths is also the result of an increase in the availability fentanyl, a product that is produced illegally in the United States.
These statistics on the abusive use of drugs and its mortality rate are made available by the very reliable CDC through its National Statistics System.
The result of this finding highlights the urgent need for the adoption and the implementation of public health strategies aimed at overturning opioid abuse. Such strategies could include the provision of naloxone to cocaine addicts and stretching treatment to people with opioid abuse problems.