Opioid abuse is a serious public health issue in the United States. The statistics are staggering: an estimated 1.9 million people in this country have a prescription opioid use disorder, while another 586,000 have a heroin use disorder. In 2014 alone, more than 28,000 people died from an opioid overdose.

Two states, Florida and Maryland, have recently declared states of emergency in response to the opioid crisis.

MedlinePlus magazine from the National Institutes of Health has published an overview of the opioid epidemic, and The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has collected resources on opioid, including heroin, abuse for law enforcement, health professionals, and the public. A Call to Action and Issue Brief: Justice System Use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs— Addressing the Nation’s Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Epidemic is also available from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Related Reading:

Alec MacGilliss, The Last Shot, ProPublica, June 27, 2017.

Maryland Rolling Out 2 Initiatives to Fight Opioid Addiction, The Washington Post, July 1, 2017.

Oklahoma Sues Opioid Drugmakers; New Hampshire Presses Epidemic Probe, The New York Times, June 30, 2017.

Michael Auslen, Florida Governor Declares Public Health Emergency Over Opioid Crisis, Miami Herald, May 3, 2017.