In Some States, More Die from Drugs than Car Crashes, CDC Says

Rising rates of prescription-drug overdoses have propelled drug-related fatalities to the top of the accidental-death list in a growing number of states, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Associated Press reported Sept. 30 that the CDC said that while automobile crashes remain the top cause of accidental death nationally, drug-related incidents caused more deaths in 16 states — double the number of states in 2003. In 2006, 45,000 Americans died from car crashes, while 39,000 died from drug-related causes (no data is yet available for 2007 or 2008).

Most of the deaths were due to overdoses, especially of opioid analgesics like methadone, Vicodin, OxyContin, and fentanyl. Other causes included organ failure caused by long-term drug use.

States where more people died from drugs than car crashes were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.