Subscribe now

Insight and Health

Trump's 90-day plan for opioids has failed – here's a better one

Deaths caused by accidental drug overdoses in the US now exceed those from motor vehicle incidents and guns. The government has been all talk and little action

By Jessica Hamzelou

31 January 2018

patient

Synthetic drugs are all too easy to accidentally overdose on

Brian Snyder/Reuters

AMERICA’S opioid crisis has spiralled further out of control. The latest figures reveal that more people in the US are dying from opioid overdoses than from motor vehicle accidents. The country’s life expectancy has dropped for the past two years running, thanks in part to drug overdose deaths.

“It is the highest level we’ve ever seen related to drug overdose deaths,” says Michael Botticelli, who served as director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) under former President Barack Obama and now directs…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, subscribe today with our introductory offers

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop