More than 700,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses from 1999 to 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than two-thirds of those were opioid-related. While the epidemic of addiction and death began with prescription pills marketed by Purdue and other drug companies, it has shifted to include heroin and synthetic compounds like fentanyl.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 04, 2019 21:12 UTC