AUDIO – $1,000,000,000,000 –
Feb. 8, 2022 – Opioid overdose deaths cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion a year, the U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking said Tuesday, a “staggering amount” it says underlines the “direct and escalating threat” the opioid epidemic poses to the economy, public health and safety and national security. More than 550,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses over the past 20 years, according to the report. Almost 200,000 of those deaths involved synthetic opioids, the most common being illegally manufactured fentanyl. Overdoses caused by the drug are the leading cause of deaths for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, according to the report. The U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking is a bipartisan panel made up of representatives from government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, along with lawmakers from the House and Senate. Between 8% and 12% of people who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain develop a physical or psychological reliance on the drug, according to the report. Suicides by drug overdose have increased among Black women, young people and the elderly, according to a study published last week.
