opioid epidemic

[oh-pee--oid ep-i-dem-ik]

noun

1. a public health crisis brought about by a notable increase in the use of opioids.

   legislative efforts to deal with the opioid epidemic.

Word History and Origins

Origin of opioid epidemic¹

First recorded in 2010–15

Example Sentences

This is money that huge companies have agreed to pay to US states, to be used for the "abatement of the opioid epidemic".

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Experts describe the opioid epidemic as unfolding in four distinct "waves," each tied to a different drug driving fatal overdoses: prescription opioids in the 1990s, heroin beginning around 2010, fentanyl taking hold in 2013, and a combination of fentanyl and stimulants emerging in 2015.

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The opioid epidemic has been called “the deadliest drug crisis in American history.”

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We are at least two, in some cases, three generations deep in the opioid epidemic.

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Baltimore's state attorney, Ivan Bates, said the incident served as a "powerful reminder" of the city's "ongoing battle against the opioid epidemic".

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