| Summary/Abstract |
In 2016, nearly 50,000 people died [1] of opioid overdoses in the United States, and, per capita, almost as many died in Canada. From 2000 to 2016, more Americans died of overdoses than died in World War I and World War II combined. Yet even these grim numbers understate the impact of opioid abuse, because for every person who dies, many more live with addiction. The White House Council of Economic Advisers has estimated [2] that the epidemic cost the U.S. economy $504 billion in 2015, or 2.8 percent of GDP.
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