With President Trump’s renewed declaration of a national public health emergency as a result of the opioid epidemic, area lawmakers are now hoping to see additional federal dollars allocated toward fighting this deadly crisis.
The extension of the public health emergency is a necessary step as the opioid epidemic is showing no signs of lessening.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 42,249 opioid-related overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2016. That is a 28 percent increase over 2015. The CDC also reported that 115 people are dying of opioid-related overdose deaths every day.
The crisis is further magnified here close to home with West Virginia once again having the highest overdose death rate in the country in 2016 at 52 per 100,000 people.
The national rate is 19.8 per 100,000 and the next two highest states — New Hampshire and Ohio — saw 39 deaths per 100,000, according to the CDC.
Read the entire editorial at http://www.bdtonline.com/opinion/editorials/public-health-emergency/article_e9e06cba-e3bb-5d2e-8b68-6ea4ce795662.html
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