NCHS Heroin Report

Heroin-Related Deaths on the Rise: Injury Center News

A recent CDC report found that the rate of heroin overdose deaths among Americans nearly quadrupled between 2000 and 2013. The report, Drug-poisoning Deaths Involving Heroin: United States, 2000–2013, published by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics also found that:

• Deaths from heroin overdose increased among all age and race and ethnicity groups.
• All regions of the country saw an increase in heroin overdose deaths, with the largest increase in the Midwest.
• Four times more men died from heroin-related overdoses than women.

Why This is Important:

The rate of prescription opioid overdose deaths is still almost double that of heroin, but the sharp increase in heroin-related deaths in recent years is a cause for concern. Identifying populations at high risk of heroin-related death can help focus prevention efforts.

Read the Report from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics

Learn More

• Read about CDC’s work in Prescription Drug Overdose in the United States.
• See Other Research from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

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  • A new CDC report: Rate of heroin overdose deaths nearly quadrupled in the U.S. between 2000 and 2013. Death rates increased across the country among Americans of all ages and racial and ethnic groups. Read more.
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  • Rate of heroin overdose deaths among Americans nearly quadrupled from 2000 through 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db190.pdf
  • 4x more men died from heroin-related overdoses than women between 2000 and 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db190.pdf