The State You’re More Likely to Overdose In Is…
I’m pretty much sick of talking about how the drug problem in this country is getting worse. I hate talking about no matter how much work seems to get done to fight this thing, it feels like we’re spinning our wheels.
That’s not to say the work we’re doing in the addiction field is in vain—because it’s not. Each day, those of us who have devoted our lives to save others from addiction get up, and go to work and endlessly try to help people fight their addictions and get clean once and for all. Most of us who work in the field have gone through it ourselves. We’ve been dopesick. We’ve driven through ghettos trying to cop drugs. We’ve stolen. We’ve lied. And we’ve gotten clean despite all the odds being against us.
Every day we help just one person, that’s one person who’s no longer going to be a liability to themselves, their families and society. That’s one more life saved. That’s one more fatal overdose avoided. And that’s a lifetime of heartache that a family won’t have to deal with.
As the drug problem trudges on, some of us remain in the trenches trying to help addicts find a clean and sober life.
As the problem has continued since the 1990s, every addict thinks that where they hail from has the worst drug problem. In reality, while the problem is bad throughout the country, certain states have worse problems than others.
Just so everyone has the most up-to-date information, here’s a list of the top 20 deadliest states in the U.S.:
20. Missouri – 23.4 deaths per 100,000 residents
19. North Carolina – 24.1 deaths per 100,000 residents
18. Louisiana – 24.5 deaths per 100,000 residents
17. New Mexico – 24.8 deaths per 100,000 residents
16. Florida – 25.1 deaths per 100,000 residents
15. Tennessee – 26.6 deaths per 100,000 residents
14. Michigan – 27.8 deaths per 100,000 residents
13. Indiana – 29.4 deaths per 100,000 residents
12. New Jersey – 30.0 deaths per 100,000 residents
11. Connecticut – 30.9 deaths per 100,000 residents
10. Rhode Island – 31.0 deaths per 100,000 residents
9. Massachusetts – 31.8 deaths per 100,000 residents
8. Maine – 34.4 deaths per 100,000 residents
7. Maryland – 36.3 deaths per 100,000 residents
6. Delaware – 37.0 deaths per 100,000 residents
5. New Hampshire – 37.0 deaths per 100,000 residents
4. Kentucky – 37.2 deaths per 100,000 residents
3. Pennsylvania – 44.3 deaths per 100,000 residents
2. Ohio – 46.3 deaths per 100,000 residents
1. West Virginia – 57.8 deaths per 100,000 residents
These numbers are staggering and it’s surprising that one of the country’s smallest and most rural states is number one on the list of overdose deaths. It’s also interesting to see which states make the top 20 and why because maybe figuring out a reason why these states have such high numbers of overdose deaths could open the door to a handling that would get this crisis moving on a downward trend. Otherwise, we’ll continue to see the numbers climb.
Sources Used:
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/deadliest-states-for-drug-overdoses
