WASHINGTON – For nearly ten years, the number of overdose deaths in rural counties across the nation exceeded those in major cities; but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2015, that is no longer the case.
Researchers with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, found that starting that year, people in urban areas became more likely to die of an overdose than those in rural areas.
Although, who they were, and what kind of drugs they used did vary.
Men were more likely to die from overdoses in the cities, while women were more likely to fatally OD in rural areas.
When it came to what kind of drugs people were dying from, that varied too.
The majority of deaths from heroin, cocaine and drugs like fentanyl happened in the city.
The less populated areas saw more overdose deaths from things like prescription opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines.
Overall, preliminary data shows that those drug related deaths have dropped slightly in the U.S. declining 5.1 percent in 2018.
Leave a Reply