What is the "Opioid Epidemic?"

The Opioid Epidemic refers to the significant increase in the use and abuse of heroin and opium-based drugs and synthetic derivatives (“opioids”) over the last 20 years.

In the late 1990s, drug companies incorrectly assured doctors that patients would not become addicted to opioids. A quarter of all patients prescribed opioids misuse them. A tenth of all patients prescribed opioids become addicted. Four-out-of-five heroin users previously abusing prescription opioids. Heroin use has doubled since 2002, with an estimated 948,000 users in America.

Opioid overdoses kill over 33,000 Americans every year. Since 1999, deaths from prescription opioids have quadrupled.

Relative to population, Utah has the 7th highest drug overdose rate in the United States. Drug overdoses kill 22 Utahns every month—more than firearms, falls, and car crashes combined—with a majority of these drug overdoses involving opioids.