(Worthy News) – The economic cost of the opioid crisis was $504 billion in 2015 — more than six times the most recently estimated cost of the epidemic, according to a new White House report.
According to the Council of Economic Advisers report, more than 50,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2015, of which 63 percent reportedly involved opioids.
Opioids are prescribed to reduce pain for people recovering from surgery or undergoing medical treatment, but also have a high potential for abuse. Users often move to other lethal, non-medicinal drugs such as heroin, which produces a similar effect but is much less expensive. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]