Science 361, eaau1184 (2018).

Death by unintentional drug overdose is increasing exponentially in the United States, although several epidemics of different drugs underlie the pattern.

Understanding the public health crisis of substance abuse and drug overdose may facilitate the development and implementation of tailored prevention and treatment strategies.

Donald Burke and colleagues analyzed records of nearly 600,000 deaths from unintentional drug overdose in the United States from 1979 to 2016. They found that the total overdose mortality rate follows a smooth exponential curve and that the epidemic is likely to continue along this path. The subepidemics of different drugs exhibit distinct characteristics regarding time course, geographic hotspots and affected demographic groups.

Understanding the various factors, ranging from economic to sociological, that shape the trajectory of overdose deaths may shed light on the root cause of the epidemic.