Opioid drug abuse has killed more Americans than the US wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined, highlighting the growing opioid crisis in the United States, according to government data.
US war veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to die from drug addiction, particularly those who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
US government and healthcare officials have been struggling to stem the epidemic of overdoses, which killed more than 64,000 Americans last year alone, up from 52,000 the previous year. More than half were related to opioids.
US President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a “public health emergency” last month, describing the epidemic as a “national shame” and “human tragedy.”
The declaration will redirect federal resources and loosen regulations to combat a drug epidemic that kills more than 150 Americans every day.
But the…