The severity of the opioid epidemic is well-documented. In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that drug overdose deaths in the United States more than tripled from 1999 to 2015.[1] From 2015 to 2016, opioid overdose deaths increased by more than 20 percent—rising from 52,898 in 2016 to 64,070 deaths in 2017.[2] Additionally, in 2016, U.S. life expectancy declined for the second year in a row caused in part by an increase in unintentional injuries, chiefly drug overdoses.[3],[4] The unintentional use of illicitly manufactured fentanyls (synthetic opioids) alone, or added to heroin, cocaine, or to counterfeit
…
