Drug Policy Center’s Jeff Beeson: We Can Use Data to Fight the Opioid Crisis

On average, 115 people die from a drug overdose in the United States every day. It’s the leading cause of death for individuals under the age of 50. In the past, drug addiction was historically associated with poor, urban communities driven in many respects by a lack of treatment and mental health services. But the face of addiction has changed, and drug abuse has expanded into what many view as a proliferation in distribution practices for prescription opioids—fentanyl being among the most notorious examples.