By the numbers

Posted on by Pat Barcas

• Each year about 1,000 people die from unintentional medication or drug overdoses in North Carolina. — N.C.  Division of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch

• Accidental drug overdoses in the state from prescription pain medications — such as methadone, oxycodone and hydrocodone — are taking more lives than heroin and cocaine combined, and heroin deaths have nearly tripled since 2011. — Injury-Free North Carolina at UNC Chapel Hill and the state’s Division of Public Health

• The average age of death from drug overdose in the state is between 35 and 45 years old. And from 1999 to 2013, unintentional medication or drug overdose deaths have increased from 234 to 992 in 2013. — Injury-Free North Carolina at UNC Chapel Hill and the state’s Division of Public Health

• In 2013 (the most recent data available), 28 percent of all fatal crashes in the state involved alcohol, and crashes involving injury were 4.5 times more likely to include a fatality if alcohol was involved. —  N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts and the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles

• Of North Carolina’s 100 counties, Buncombe ranked 20th in the number of people who sought aid at an ER for substance abuse-related issues. The state average for ER visits for substance use-related issues per 100,000 people was 1,249 in 2007. Buncombe County’s number per 100,000 people was 1,622. — Asheville-Buncombe Drug Commission 2012 annual report

• 13 percent of individuals with a mental health crisis treated in an emergency room or facility will return within 30 days. — N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

 

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About Pat Barcas
Pat is a photojournalist and writer who moved to Asheville in 2014. He previously worked for a labor and social rights advocacy newspaper in Chicago. Email him at pbarcas@gmail.com. Follow me @pbarcas
View all posts by Pat Barcas →

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