Drug overdose death rate nearly quadrupled in the past 20 years

New CDC data finds that the rate of deaths from drug overdoses nearly quadrupled in the two decades leading up to 2017. Here’s more from the study:

• By geography: Rural areas saw the fastest growth in overdose death rates from 1999 to 2006, at which point rates slowed down in rural and urban areas. But urban areas have seen the fastest rates since 2014. 
• By sex: Rates for men were significantly higher in urban areas, while rates for women were significantly higher in rural areas in 2017.
• By drug: Heroin, synthetic opioids other than methadone, and cocaine were responsible for more urban deaths in 2017. Natural and semisynthetic opioids like morphine were more responsible for rural deaths.