Data from Google Trends shows that search interest in all topics related to drug withdrawal has roughly doubled over the past decade. For starters, the searches are concentrated in the regions where we know, from mortality data, that the drug epidemic is raging most fiercely. That suggests that drug withdrawal searches are more closely linked to people actually using drugs. Another piece of evidence suggesting the withdrawal searches track actual use patterns is their seasonal fluctuation. If we accept that the Google withdrawal data track actual drug use, what are the implications?

Source: Washington Post July 31, 2017 12:56 UTC