Death in the medicine cabinet

From The Joys of Legalized Opiates by Walter Russell Mead

Prescription pain pills, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, were involved in 6,631 overdose deaths, intentional and unintentional, among women in 2010, a 415% increase from the 1,287 such deaths in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During the same period, the number of such painkiller overdose deaths among men rose 265% to 10,020, the CDC said. […]

“Many people have become addicted, because of the large number of prescriptions being written,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden in a teleconference with reporters. He called the painkiller problems among women “underrecognized” by health-care professionals.

Wow. I knew it was something of a problem but not the magnitude indicated here, roughly 17,000 a year. For perspective, Automobile accidents ~ 40,000 per year, Gun suicides ~ 20,000 per year, gun violence ~ 10,000 per year.

Seems to be further evidence of a mental health crisis that we are not only not addressing but we aren't even focusing on.