This is a companion article to the feature, “Facing the Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic.”

In October 2014, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the results of a recent study examining changes in heroin and prescription opioid death rates in 28 states between 2010 and 2012.1 The 28 states represented 56% of the US population. Key findings of the study included the following:

  • From 2010 through 2012, the overall heroin death rate across the 28 states doubled.
  • The sharp heroin overdose increase extends the trend observed in the 2011 national mortality data.
  • Five states had increases in prescription opioid death rates, seven states had decreases, and sixteen states had no change.
  • Of the 18 states with reliable heroin overdose death rates examined individually in this study, 15 had statistically significant increases in heroin death rates. No state had a decrease in the heroin death rate.
  • The increases in state heroin death rates from 2010–2012 were associated with increases in prescription opioid death rates.

“This study is another reminder of the seriousness of the prescription opioid overdose epidemic and the connection to heroin overdoses,” says Grant Baldwin, PhD, MPH, director of CDC’s division of unintentional injury prevention. “CDC and other federal agencies are working to promote a smart, coordinated approach to reduce inappropriate prescribing and help people addicted to these drugs.”1

In addition, a recent Michigan State University study found that 14- and 15-year-olds are at a higher risk of becoming dependent on prescription drugs within a 12-month period after using them extra-medically, or beyond the prescribed amount.

Led by doctoral student Maria A. Parker, along with professor James C. Anthony, both in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics, the study was based on a nationally representative sample of 12- to 21-year-olds taken each year between 2002 and 2013. The survey sample focused on what happens when young people start to use these drugs for other reasons.

Out of about 42,000 respondents, the researchers found that 14- and 15-year-olds were two to three times more likely to become opioid dependent within a year after first extra-medical use compared to 20- and 21-year-old users. The research also reconfirmed from earlier studies that peak risk for starting to use prescription painkillers above the prescribed intent is seen at 16 and 17 years of age.

“Many kids start using these drugs other than what’s prescribed because they’re curious to see what it feels like,” Parker says. “The point of our study was to estimate the risk of dependency after someone in this age group starts using them beyond the boundaries of a doctor’s orders.”2

REFERENCES

  1. Increases in heroin overdose deaths: 28 states, 2010 to 2012. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 3, 2014. Available at: www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p1002-heroin-overdose.html. Accessed January 13, 2016.
  2. Parker M, Gleason S. Opioid dependency peaks among younger age group. MSU Today. East Lansing, Mich: Michigan State University, December 22, 2015. Available at: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2015/opioid-dependency-peaks-among-younger-age-group/?utm_source=weekly-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=standard-promo&utm_content=text. Accessed January 13, 2016.