Although we’re still waiting on the numbers from 2016, it’s clear that there is a growing problem with opioid overdoses in Minnesota.
According to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths from opioid overdoses rose in Minnesota in 2015, especially among young adults. The data suggests that 338 people died from opioid overdoses in Minnesota in 2015, up from 319 in 2014. A closer look at the data suggests that the highest number of deaths occurred in individuals in their late 20s and early 30s rather than older individuals for the first time since the 1990s. The problem isn’t contained to the big cities, either.
“It’s hitting rural areas harder than it is cities,” said Rural Aids Action Network program manage Maggie Kazel. “I think that’s a hard concept for a lot of people to grasp because we have a historic setup in our brains of drugs equal big cities. What we see in Duluth is horrible, what they see in Iron Range is pure tragic.
Synthetic Drugs On The Rise
Pain pill abuse has been a problem for a while now, as the number of people killed by opioid overdoses in Minnesota has risen steadily since 1999. The CDC recently awarded Minnesota more than a half million dollars to develop more opioid overdose prevention plans, but it’s not just normal opioids that health officials need to be aware of. According to Dana Farley, the Minnesota Department of Health’s alcohol and drug prevention policy director, synthetic drugs are popping up in Minnesota more frequently. He said synthetic drugs have become more accessible recently, which tend to be more popular in younger crowds. He believes synthetic drugs played a big part in why younger people were dying at such a higher rate in 2015.
Pain Management in Minnesota
We need to develop better opioid management programs here in Minnesota. Doctors and medical professionals can’t keep handing these pills out like candy. Opioids certainly have numerous benefits and they truly help some people, but we need to have better management of how these drugs are administered to ensure they aren’t abused. Too many people are dying, and there’s little sign for optimism based on the trends of the last decade. We need to make preventing opioid abuse a priority in Minnesota.