From Introduction to Get Tough & Smart:

In 2012, cumulative American drug overdose deaths exceeded our deaths in the Second World War.[1] In 2017, there were 70,237 drug overdose deaths in the U.S.[2] By 2021, our total drug overdose deaths will exceed all U.S. war deaths.[3] Our current incarcerated population in American prisons and jails, many of whom are addicts or drug traffickers, is over three times all U.S. war deaths. American addiction is more deadly than war. Addict deaths represent fully wasted lives. “For every drug overdose that results in death, there are many more nonfatal overdoses, each one with its own emotional and economic toll.”[4] “In 2015, an estimated 547,543 emergency department visits occurred for all drug-related poisonings in the U.S.” and “rates were highest among persons aged 15–19.”[5]
“The overall mortality rate for unintentional drug poisonings in the United States grew exponentially from 1979 through 2016. This exponentially increasing mortality rate tracked along a remarkably smooth trajectory for at least 38 years. By contrast, the trajectories of mortality rates from individual drugs have not tracked along exponential trajectories.”[6] We focus much attention on the current Opioid Crisis, but it is a sub-epidemic. In the larger picture we see skyrocketing overdose mortality rates that transcend specific drugs, ages, races, time course and geographic distribution. Skyrocketing overdose mortality represents reckless overconsumption of illegal narcotics. The years from 1979 through 2016 saw the growth of massive incarceration.
We are losing or have already lost the old War on Drugs. American life expectancy has declined for three years in a row on account of increases in drug overdoses, chronic liver disease and suicide,[7] all three linked to drugs and alcohol. To avoid reversal of the American Dream, we must change strategy and tactics.

[1] The Running Total of Drug Overdose Deaths – Compared with Major U.S. War Casualties, chart by drugabuse.com.
[2] Drug Overdose Deaths, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”).
[3] Id.
[4] CDC, Nonfatal Drug Overdoses (8-2-2018).
[5] CDC, 2018 Annual Surveillance Report of Drug-Related Risks and Outcomes 18 (8-31-2018).

[6] H Jalal, J Buchanich, M Roberts, L Balmert, K Zhang, D Burke, Changing dynamics of the drug overdose epidemic in the United States from 1979 through 2016, Science 21 Sep 2018, DOI: 10.1126/science.aau1184. 

[7] M Solly, U.S. Life Expectancy Drops for Third Year in a Row, Reflecting Rising Drug Overdoses, Suicides, Smithsonian.com (Dec. 3, 2018). “From 2000 to 2015, death rates for chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in the United States increased 31%.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC (1-29-2017). 

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