Facts & Info About
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) & Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)

Opioid Overdose by the numbers…

The MN Department of Health has compiled data over the last several years on just how many people overdose to opioids or substance use. From 2009 - 2019 the percentage of deaths have increased 86.9%. In 2019 a reported 428 deaths were recored compared to 229 in 2009, the rate continues to climb as the opioid crisis seems to continue to fall to the back burner of importance.

Opioids is such a broad category in which drug type plays a large factor in which individuals are using. In 2019, synthetic opioids were involved in the greatest proportion of opioid overdose deaths. You can find more information on the numbers reported by click here: Drug Overdose Death Reporting.

^Synthetic opioids include fentanyl and fentanyl analogs like carfentanyl, tramadol, etc.

The MN Department of Health also does an in-depth look at deaths by race when it comes to opioid overdose. In Minnesota, American Indians are seven times as likely to die from a drug overdose as Whites, and African Americans are twice as likely to die from a drug overdose as Whites. In 2019 the numbers were as followed:

American Indian - 93.7
African American - 29.0
White - 12.6

Is it safe to say that the opioid crisis is also a racial justice issue just like the tobacco industry? Something to think about..hmmm