Nearly every day, someone in Delaware loses the battle against heroin, prescription painkillers or other addictive drugs. Teens and adults need to talk about substance use and understand the risks and consequences.
One of the greatest challenges for people seeking help is the stigma surrounding their addiction. Those struggling should not be ashamed of their disease or keep it hidden. Delaware Goes Purple empowers the community to stand up, to erase the stigma and support people who need it most.
Let’s look at the numbers:
- 1 out of 10 Delawareans is dependent on opioids
- 7 out of 10 overdose deaths involved opioids
- 31% rise in opioid overdose deaths among teens
- 33% teens who legitimately use prescription opioids are prone to misuse opioids after high school
Delaware has seen the largest three-year increase of overdose deaths at an annual growth rate of 16%. Among young adults ages 15 to 24, the average annual overdose death rate is 12.6 of every 100,000.
In Delaware, 88% of the 401 reported drug overdose deaths involved opioids and healthcare providers wrote 60.6 opioid prescriptions for every 100 people, compared with the average U.S. rate of 51.4 prescriptions.
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