Which Drugs Actually Kill Americans

U.S. drug-related deaths, over time Katie Peek

In 2010, there were 80,000 drug and alcohol overdose deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER database. The database, maintained by the National Center for Health Statistics, keeps a tally of all the deaths listed on certificates nationwide. They’re classified by the ICD-10 medical coding reference system.

Death reporting in the U.S. requires an underlying cause—the event or disease that lead to the death. This chart represents all those listed in the CDC database as “accidental poisoning,” “intentional self-poisoning,” “assault by drugs,” and “poisoning with undetermined intent.” In addition to the underlying cause, a death certificate has space for up to 20 additional causes. That’s where “cocaine” or “antidepressants” would show up. The subcategories are limited in their detail—many drugs are lumped together, like MDMA and caffeine, which are listed together as “psychostimulants.” And about a quarter of all overdose death certificates don’t have the toxicity test results listed at all, landing them in the “unspecified” stripe.

By adding all those sub-categories up, imperfect as they may be, it’s clear that the rate of reported overdoses the U.S. more than doubled between 1999 and 2010. About half of those additional deaths are in the pharmaceuticals category, which the CDC has written about before. Nearly three-quarters of the pharmaceuticals deaths are opioid analgesics—prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin. And while cocaine, heroin and alcohol are all responsible for enough deaths to warrant their own stripes on the chart, many popular illegal drugs—including marijuana and LSD—are such a tiny blip as to be invisible.

A few caveats about the statistics: if a person had multiple drugs listed on their death certificate, they’re being counted twice here. Also, the database doesn’t include nonresidents—either undocumented immigrants or U.S. citizens living abroad.

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Mayor Asks City Attorney to Research Marijuana Decriminalization

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is asking the city attorney to look into the impact and legalities of decriminalizing marijuana. He told wilx.com it's just a matter of time until there's a referendum on the issue, so he wants to know how cities like Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo have implemented it and how they're complying with state law.

 "It's there, it's available in our community. I think we're better off dealing with it as a civil infraction and dealing with the reality of it."

The Mayor doesn't think decriminalization would be a huge change in Lansing because police don't treat simple possession as a priority right now. "We don't have the manpower to go after individual cases, so turning it into a civil infraction in many ways is just recognizing what already is, but would also stop the criminalization of a lot of our young people."

Decriminalization means people caught with marijuana, assuming they aren't complying with the state's medical marijuana law, would be given a ticket instead of being arrested. The Mayor calls it a rational approach to a drug that's readily available in the community. In fact, he says it's been pushed into neighborhoods since the state asked the courts to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Mayor thinks a referendum would be the best way to decide if Lansing should decriminalize marijuana, but he won't be leading the charge for it and he isn't supporting legalization.

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Illinois House Approves Use of Medical Marijuana

abcnews.go-The Illinois House Wednesday approved a measure to allow physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients with specific terminal illnesses or debilitating medical conditions.

Lawmakers voted 61-57 for legislation that creates a four-year pilot program that requires patients and caregivers to undergo background checks, limits the amount of marijuana patients can have at a time, and establishes cultivation centers and selling points.

The legislation now goes to the state Senate, where a version of the bill was approved in 2009. Senate President John Cullerton's spokeswoman said this week that he supports the legislation.

Gov. Pat Quinn hasn't said whether he would sign the measure should it reach his desk.

Supporters said marijuana can relieve continual pain without triggering the harmful effects of other prescription drugs. They touted the legislation as a compassionate measure that would save patients from the agony caused by illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and HIV.

"I know every single one of you have compassion in your heart, this is the day to show it," said Rep. Lou Lang, the sponsor of the bill. "... Let people feel better, let them have a better quality of life."

The bill lists more than 30 medical conditions for which patients can be prescribed marijuana.

The legislative proposal prohibits patients from growing their own marijuana. Instead, the state must approve 22 cultivation centers, as well as 60 dispensaries where patients could buy the drug after getting a prescription from a doctor with whom they have an existing relationship. The legislation sets a 2.5 ounce limit per patient per purchase.

Lang, a Democrat from Skokie, said the bill is the strictest in the nation. Still, opponents say the program would encourage the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.

"It's going to cause confusion in our communities," said Republican Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro. "... I guarantee you that we will be back adjusting this legislation or we would be back in this floor for the legalization of marijuana."

Lang and other supporters have been trying to legalize medical marijuana for several years. A measure that had cleared the Senate failed in the House in 2011, when six Republicans and 50 Democrats voted yes.

Quinn on Wednesday said the bill's sponsor hasn't reached out to him to build support on the measure.

The Democratic governor said he was recently visited by a veteran suffering from war founds who was helped by the medical use of marijuana. Quinn said he was "impressed by his heartfelt feeling" on the issue.

"I'm certainly open-minded to it," he said.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

A report issued earlier this month by the Pew Research Center poll showed that 77 percent of Americans say marijuana has legitimate medical uses.

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The bill is HB1.

Online: http://www.ilga.gov

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