Story highlights 1 in 4 overdoses involve heroinThe rate of heroin involved overdoses triple from 1999 to 2015(CNN) America's opioid epidemic continues: The latest numbers from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, released Friday, show that one in four drug overdoses in 2015 was related to heroin. When looking at overdoses overall, opioid-related deaths represented the majority. In 2015, overdoses involving opioids represented 73% of all overdose deaths, a significant jump from 57% in 2010. While there were increases in heroin and synthetic drug-related deaths, there was a drop in overdose deaths involving natural and semisynthetic opioid analgesics, including prescription drugs like oxycodone and hydrocodone. Although these drugs were involved in 29% of drug overdose deaths in 2010, they represented 24% of all drug overdose deaths in 2015.

Source: CNN February 24, 2017 05:03 UTC