5 Drug-Related Statistics You Won’t Believe Are Real

You’d be hard-pressed to look around and find someone who has not been affected by drugs somehow, either personally or in their close friends or family circle. The statistics on drug use are astounding – in the United States alone, there are over 20 million people addicted to drugs annually.

This extreme amount of drug use leads many users to do things they would never have thought themselves capable of prior to their addictions. In fact, here are 5 drug-related statistics you won’t believe are real but are very scarily true.

5 Unbelievable Drug Statistics

1. Pain medication deaths in young adults are becoming more prevalent than those caused by auto accidents. The facts show that the biggest abusers of prescription drugs are people in the age range of 18 to 25. Opioid addictions account for the majority of these overdoses, causing over 40,000 deaths in 2016 alone. For many people, it’s easy to get pain relief prescription drugs from their doctors or buy them from sellers. This type of addiction has steadily increased over the last decade.
   
   
2. Almost one-fifth of federal inmates say they committed their crimes for drugs. The federal prisons are overpopulated with inmates annually. They are all there for different reasons and various crimes, but almost 20% of them say that their sentences were due to drug-related charges. They did what they did to either get access to or money for their drug addiction. This is not only scary and dangerous but costly to tax-paying citizens.
   
   
3. The United States uses the most of the world’s supply of pain medication. Although our country comprises only 6% of the entire population, statistics show that we consume 80% of the global supply of pain medication. It’s a very serious statistic that displays Americans as either very weak or very addictive. Either way, it’s a statistic that needs to be worked on drastically.
   
   
4. Drug overdose deaths are more common than you think. In the United States, an average of one person dies every 19 minutes from a drug overdose. This includes an age range of children to elderly adults. Drug addictions don’t discriminate, and drug addicts come in all shapes, sizes, races, and ethnicities. It’s a global problem that must be dealt with harshly.
   
   
5. Alcoholism is a drug that affects almost 17 million people annually. When most people think of drugs, their minds turn to marijuana, heroin, or prescription pain killers. However, the most prevalent, easily accessible, and widely used drug is alcohol. It may be legal after 21, but it is dangerous and addicting. It’s also responsible for hundreds of thousands of drunk driving injuries and deaths, countless domestic violence acts, and untold damage to the bodies and minds of addicts.
   
   

Even With All of These Statistics, Drugs Remain Rampant

The thing about a drug is that it has addictive properties to it that makes it almost irresistible to the user. Drug abuse and addiction is responsible for so many crimes, broken families, and costly damages that it would seem that no one would want any part of them. Unfortunately, drug use remains rampant and spreading the knowledge of the danger of addictions is the first step to a much harsher goal of reducing and eliminating the problem.