County Health Departments Can Address Opioids with Rural Extension Grants

The opioid crisis is a modern American epidemic punctuated by skyrocketing deaths. Our interactive map shows which counties are hardest hit.

Drug overdose deaths and opioid-involved deaths continue to increase in the United States. States like Maryland have passed bills to address the statewide crisis and increase access to naloxone, while Connecticut has coordinated efforts across municipalities and jurisdictions to address a dramatic rise in opioid abuse through training, referral and medication-assisted treatment.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the majority of drug overdose deaths (more than six out of ten) involve an opioid. Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) has quadrupled. From 2000 to 2015 more than half a million people died from drug overdoses.

The counties with the highest mortality rate and the highest number of overdose deaths from 2016. We have also created an interactive map that allows you to see how your state has been affected by the opioid epidemic.