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US teen drug deaths increase after years of decline

A new report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a rise in teen deaths from drug overdose after years of decline.

The decreased teen deaths was a rare positive sign in the opioid epidemic, which has recorded a surge in adult overdose deaths each year due to abusing prescription painkillers, heroin, and fentanyl.

“This is a warning sign that we need to keep paying attention to what’s happening with young people,” said Katherine Keyes, an expert on drug abuse issues from New York’s Columbia University.

Sally Curtin, CDC’s lead researcher said reasons are not clear for the increase in teen overdose deaths in 2015 – the latest year for which CDC has analysed data, or whether the upward trend would continue.

The overdose death rate for teens rose to 3.7 per 100,000 in 2015, increasing from 3.1 per 100,000 in 2014. Researchers found that most deaths were accidental, with heroin overdose the main cause.

By comparison, CDC noted that teen overdose deaths began to decrease in 2008, reaching a low of 3 per 100,000 from 2012 to 2014.

Curtin said that a possible cause for the 2015 rise was increased availability of more potent opioids, like fentanyl, which drug abusers often mix with heroin.

Drug overdoses have been a greater problem with adults than teens. Tens of thousands of adults in the US die each year from overdoses, compared to 700-800 teens.

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