Opiod Overdose Death Rates Continue to Climb in Massachusetts; Targets White Males Age 25 to 44

Opioid overdose has become the reason of death of many U.S. citizens in the past few years. Every year, the number of victims increases. Today, the Department of Public Health released a new data stating that opioid epidemic continues in Massachusetts and the number of overdosed individuals still continue to increase.

In the year 2014, there was a total of 1,099 death cases linked to opioid overdose. This is 21 percent more than the total number of cases in the year 2013 and 65 percent more than the total number of cases in the year 2012.

According to Boston Herald, data for the first nine months of the year 2015 and the number of death cases related to opioid sums up to 1,104. It is already higher than the total number in 2014 even without the last three months' record.

Due to the alarming and increasing number of death victims of opioid overdose, Marylou Sudders, the Health and Human Resources Secretary, suggested making it more difficult for the public to get these strong and powerful drugs. She also suggested that it is a great way to provide education about the side effects and dangers of the drug to the public.

According to the new data released, the most common victims of opioid overdose are white men between the ages 25 and 44 years old.

The WBUR's Common Health reported that among the 1,104 opioid overdose-related death cases in the first nine months of 2015, 76 percent of the victims were men. 791 men deaths from January 2015 to September 2015 were confirmed. A total of 82 men were aged 55 years old and above, 178 were between the ages 45 to 54 years old, 203 were in the 35 to 44 age bracket, 247 were 25 to 34 years old and 81 were between 15 to 24 years old.

It was the first time that the Department of Public Health released a demographics on the victims of these opioid overdose cases.

According to 9and10 News, Law enforcers in the counties of Oceana, Mason and Lake will start carrying a rescue kit. This rescue kit contains Naloxone, a prescription drug that can be used for treating overdose. Both officers and Deputies from the three counties have already received training on how to detect and treat different kinds of opioid overdoses.