• Every day an estimated 100 lives are lost to an accidental drug overdose in the US.
• Drug overdose is the leading cause of preventable death for people under the age of 65 in the US.
• Prescription painkillers were involved in over 15,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2008.
• Drug overdose death rates in the US have more than tripled since 1990 and have never been higher.
• In 2009, more than 37,000 people died from drug overdoses, the majority from prescription drugs, heroin and cocaine.
• There are approximately 50 overdose prevention programs in the US that distribute narcan at 200 different locations in 16 states.
• Overdose Prevention programs in the US have trained over 50,000 drug users and their friends or family to use narcan since 1996, resulting in 10,000 reported uses of narcan to reverse an overdose.
• The DOPE Project has trained over 4000 people in San Francisco to use narcan, resulting in around 800 lives saved!
(adapted from E Wheeler, The Dope Project)
