American lawmakers are grappling with ways to respond to a worsening heroin epidemic. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death in the US, surpassing car accidents and gunshot wounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lawmakers attending a House of Representatives judicial committee hearing on Tuesday learned that the number of people overdosing on opioids has quadrupled in the past decade, with many deaths occurring in the upper class, particularly among women and in suburban areas. “There were over 43,000 deaths in 2013, or approximately 120 per day, over half of which involved either a prescription painkiller or heroin. These are our family members, friends, neighbors, and colleagues,” Jack Riley, acting deputy administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, told the […] Read More
