[hawkinspeter]

Just stumbled across this little gem: https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/preventable-death-overview/odds-of-dying/

Quite worrying that suicide is so high up on that list (I blame social media for devaluing people’s self-worth).

From: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/14/684695273/report-americans-are-now-more-likely-to-die-of-an-opioid-overdose-than-on-the-ro

[quote]

For the first time in U.S. history, a leading cause of deaths, vehicle crashes, has been surpassed in likelihood by opioid overdoses, according to a new report on preventable deaths from the National Safety Council.

Americans now have a 1 in 96 chance of dying from an opioid overdose, according to the council’s analysis of 2017 data on accidental death. The probability of dying in a motor vehicle crash is 1 in 103.

“The nation’s opioid crisis is fueling the Council’s grim probabilities, and that crisis is worsening with an influx of illicit fentanyl,” the council said in a statement released Monday.

Fentanyl is now the drug most often responsible for drug overdose deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in December. And that may only be a partial view of the problem: Opioid-related overdoses have also been under-counted by as much as 35 percent, according to a study published last year in the journal Addiction.[/quote]

Topic

[fukawitribe]

Be careful with the raw stats

Be careful with the raw stats on this; there has been a lot of press and research into it and there is no clear signal; initiallly a lot states reported signficant drops in related incidents – but was it due to increased policing during the legislation change – then a rise – but was that also due to the increase in opioid use, or the increased trace retention time in the body of cannabinoids – or something else and so on.

[OldRidgeback]

Dingaling wrote:

Bad news about the cannabis states. I like riding around Colorado. I want to go later this year so don’t put me off.

Colorado’s a nice state to visit for sure. But the risks of DUI have magnified there since cannabis use for recreational purposes was legalised. Maybe stick to trail riding? There are plenty of good ones in CO.

[Simon E]

Depression and suicidal

Depression and suicidal behaviour were serious issues long before social media came along. Social media is certainly making many people’s lives worse in a number of ways but it also an opportunity to raise awareness and open up conversations that we didn’t have before.

Cannabis use is linked with mental health issues, especially below the age of 25. The damage is not always obvious until years later.

[Dingaling]

Bad news about the cannabis

Bad news about the cannabis states. I like riding around Colorado. I want to go later this year so don’t put me off.

[OldRidgeback]

fukawitribe wrote:

Motor vehicle deaths have been more or less on the increase in the US in the last 5 years, having dropped for a number of years before that, drug related deaths are just increasing faster. Not sure it’s a great message for road safety.

In the US states where cannabis use has been legalised, crashes and casualties relating to DUI are also on the increase.

 

“Crashes are up by as much as 6 percent in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, compared with neighboring states that haven’t legalized marijuana for recreational use…”

 

https://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/crashes-rise-in-first-states-to-begin-legalized-retail-sales-of-recreational-marijuana

[fukawitribe]

Motor vehicle deaths have

Motor vehicle deaths have been more or less on the increase in the US in the last 5 years, having dropped for a number of years before that, drug related deaths are just increasing faster. Not sure it’s a great message for road safety.

[Dnnnnnn]

Sad!

Sad!

The opiod thing over there sounds chronic – and if the US didn’t have such a dreadful road safety record (4x the deaths per million as the UK)) it would have overtaken road deaths long ago.

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ras52-international-comparisons

[Author]

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