Texas Drug Deaths Increase Dramatically, But Still Well Below National Average

Texas overdose deaths have tripled in the last 18 years, according to the Houston Chronicle. Last year nearly 3,000 people died drug related deaths. The drugs responsible for these deaths were nearly even in their fatality: cocaine, meth, heroin, and pain pills such as Oxycontin. 250 deaths are attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

Drug deaths now eclipse deaths from gun violence, car crashes and HIV:

The CDC’s new 2017 estimate show that drug overdoses killed nearly 72,000 Americans last year, more than peak yearly totals from guns, car crashes or HIV.

Clearly Texas, like every state in the U.S., is facing a drug death crisis that is continually claiming more and more lives each year.

However, Texas trails behind most other states per capita on drug related deaths, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

In 2016, there were 1,375 opioid-related overdose deaths­­­ in Texas—a rate of 4.9 deaths per 100,000 persons compared to the national rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 persons.

The numbers seem to correlate to two factors: Texans have considerably less health insurance per capita than average (meaning people can't be prescribed opioids in the first place) and the fact that doctors in Texas typically do not prescribe it as much as in other states.

If you are someone you love is facing drug addiction, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-662-HELP (4357), for information on resources available to help. Drug addiction is a disease, and you, or the person you love, deserves the chance to heal.