NEW YORK — Deaths from heroin overdoses doubled in just two years in much of the nation, a new government study says.
The annual number of U.S. drug overdose deaths has been growing for more than 20 years. Officials have been most worried about a class of powerful prescription “opioid” painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin. Deaths involving such painkillers continue to be much more common than heroin-related deaths, the study found.
But while those deaths are leveling off or declining in many parts of the country, heroin-related deaths soared between 2010 and 2012 in 28 states.
Heroin overdose deaths rose from 1,779 to 3,665, doubling the death rate to 2.1 deaths per 100,000 people. They increased in both men and women, in all age groups, and in whites, blacks and Hispanics.
Overdose numbers from all the states are not expected to be released for at least a few more months.
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