The Opioid Epidemic's Effect on North Reading: Latest Data

NORTH READING, MA — The opioid epidemic's reach has been nationwide, but Massachusetts has felt it's devastating effects in all of the state's communities.

In 2015, the state's rate of opioid overdose deaths was the sixth highest in the country, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While lower than some of the surrounding counties, Middlesex County has experience between 9.3 and 14.4 opioid-related overdose deaths per 100,000 people, with 342 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2015, according to the state's latest data.

The epidemic's effects have largely remained similar over the past four years, with one opioid-related death in 2015. There had been two deaths the previous year, and one in 2013.

Massachusetts was among the states with the most significant increases from 2014 to 2015. Those states were largely in the Northeast and South, according to the CDC. According to the CDC, opioids — both prescription and illegal — were involved in 33,091 deaths nationwide in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.

The state's data notes that additional cases are still being confirmed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for 2014 and 2015, and data will be updated with newly confirmed cases.

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