Tracking the Quantity of Narcotic Pain Relievers Sold Across Every American County
In a revealing data analysis, The Washington Post has created visualizations based on information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, totaling over 380 million transactions. These visualizations, created by The Center for Public Integrity, provide a geographical distribution of oxycodone and hydrocodone pills sold in the U.S. from 2006 to 2012.
The visualizations suggest a correlation between the number of opioid pills distributed and the number of opioid-related deaths in certain counties. A belt of counties in West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky, in particular, stand out with the highest per-capita prescription opioid deaths and opioid pills distributed per capita.
The data includes the sale of pills to pharmacies, not individual consumers. Many counties with more than 15 opioid-related deaths per 100,000 people a year also received more than 100 pills per person each year, as indicated by the visualizations.
It's important to note that the visualizations do not include data from years after 2012, nor do they show the distribution of other types of prescription opioids or illegal opioids. Additionally, they do not provide a comparison with other regions or countries in terms of opioid pill distribution and opioid-related deaths.
Moreover, the visualizations do not provide information on the causes or contributing factors for the high opioid-related deaths and pill distribution in specific counties. This data serves as a starting point for further investigation and discussion on the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States.
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