Quote:The opioid epidemic cost the US $696 billion in 2018 and more than $2.5 trillion from 2015 to 2018, according to a new estimate by the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The CEA last calculated the cost of the opioid epidemic in 2015, putting the price at more than $500 billion. Using similar methodology, the agency calculated new numbers for the ensuing years..The opioid epidemic cost $2.5 trillion over 4 years - Vox
More than 70,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2017 — a record number, with around two-thirds of those deaths linked to opioids. Preliminary data suggests the death toll fell or remained relatively flat in 2018, but experts caution the preliminary data could be off. It could also be a temporary reprieve, as occurred in 2011 and 2012.
- And more deaths in a year than the entire Vietnam war US soldiers deaths.