Health

Michigan's drug epidemic in 5 graphs

Michigan Public | By Michigan Radio Newsroom

Published July 16, 2015 at 11:54 AM EDT

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Michigan's drug death rate ranks in the top third of states and is higher than the U.S. average.

Carolyn Gearig / Michigan Radio

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Michigan's drug death rate - number of drug-related deaths per 100,000 people - is higher and has grown faster than the rate of the U.S. as a whole.

Carolyn Gearig / Michigan Radio

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Drug-related deaths have been the largest cause of injury death in the U.S. since 2006.

Carolyn Gearig / Michigan Radio

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The number of drug-related deaths per year in Michigan increased nearly 400% between 1999 and 2013.

Carolyn Gearig / Michigan Radio

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While opiate painkiller deaths increased for several years and then decreased sharply, heroin deaths in Michigan have increased steadily over the past 16 years. Heroin is also an opiate.

In 2013, Michigan’s drug-related death rate was 18.5 deaths per 100,000 people*, higher than most other states in the country. The U.S. average was 14.6.

As deaths from car accidents have decreased nationally since 2006, drug overdose deaths have increased to become the highest cause of "injury death" in the U.S.

Dustin Dwyer explores Michigan's drug epidemic in Hidden Epidemic, a State of Opportunity documentary airing today on Michigan Radio at 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Read or listen to all three parts here.

*These numbers represent the age-adjusted death rate - the death rate if the population represented had the same age distribution as the population as a whole.

- Carolyn Gearig, Michigan Radio Newsroom