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We see on the news how many people die from drugs like heroin or fentanyl. We can read about how many people die due to alcohol related accidents or illnesses. But is there a way to know how many people die each year from drug use in general? This article focuses on the death of the person using the drug, as well as other lives lost because of drug abuse issues. In 2015, 27.1 million people aged 12 or older were current illicit drug users. Around 138.3 million currently drank alcohol. Drugs and alcohol affect individuals, families, the workplace and also society. In fact, the toll on America’s economy is staggering. For example, a yearly annual economic impact of $442 billion from the misuse of prescription drugs, illicit drugs or alcohol.
In 2015, drug overdoses accounted for 52,404 U.S. deaths (19,447 females and 32,957 males). Overdose figures include:
When considering mortalities associated with drug abuse, look at the big picture. Drug-related deaths and overdoses or poisonings. Yet drug- or alcohol-induced accidents also account for thousands of deaths every year. Drug trafficking is directly connected to violent fatal crimes, deadly spousal and child abuse, and infant mortality.
Drug-related murders, often tied to gang activity, increased in the past two years after falling for two decades. In 2015, they accounted for one in 25 murders in big cities. In 2016, the Chicago Police Department blamed gang violence for 764 murders. This equated to about 30.5 murders related to drugs based on 2015 statistics. However, Chicago is not an anomaly. In 2016, murders increased in 34 of the cities tracked by The Economist. Three were experiencing greater spikes in murder rates than Chicago. Drug-related deaths are not always tied to gang activity. A plethora of stories about drug deals going bad are in newspapers across the country. Many of these stories ending in murder. In 2005, after serving time in prison for gun possession, Christopher Wilkins drove a stolen truck to Fort Worth. Police linked him to several aggravated assaults and burglaries. He befriended two men, 40-year-old Willie Freeman, and 33-year-old Mike Silva. The men tricked him into paying $20 for a piece of gravel he thought was a rock of crack cocaine. Wilkins said he shot Freeman on Oct. 28, 2005, for laughing about the scam, then shot Silva because he was there. The 48-year-old Wilkins was executed in January 2017 for the deaths of two men over that $20 phony drug deal. On May 17, 2013, Ricardo Lorenzo Macias Jr., Sonia Bautista, and Brianna Garay went to Jose Castañon’s El Paso home to buy Ecstasy when an altercation broke out. The three suspects beat Castañon to death with a cookie jar over a drug deal that went bad.10
It is a well-known fact that pregnant women who drink alcohol also subject their unborn infants to a host of health problems. One of these problems could be fetal alcohol syndrome. When women use cocaine, heroin or methadone during pregnancy, babies also have a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Opiate use in pregnancy has increased dramatically during the past decade. Women are using prescription opioids, illegal opioids, and opioid substitution therapy. These drugs not only pose serious risks to the mother’s health but also link to significant neonatal complications. This could cause an increased risk of mortality and neonatal abstinence syndrome. Tragically, infants can lose their lives at the hand of drug-addicted parents. Such was the case of a 25-year-old U.K. woman who used heroin, Valium, and alcohol before killing her 4-month-old son when she knocked a large television on to his head. The youngster suffered catastrophic brain injuries, dying the day after the incident. The woman and the child’s 41-year-old father were clearly unfit to care for their son. The father was passed out on the kitchen floor in a drug-related stupor at the time of the incident. An inquest revealed a long history of drug abuse and violence, especially on the part of the father. Drugs not only take a toll on those who use them, but have dire consequences on society as a whole. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is the innocent children who fall victim to the effects of drug abuse. Many lose their lives accidentally or intentionally, due to the behavior of their drug-abusing parents. Don’t let this happen to you or someone you know. Call Promises Treatment Centers today at 1.713.528.3709 for the help you need.