US drug epidemic may have claimed TWICE as many lives than official figures suggest by fueling suicides, HIV and heart disease – bringing the 2017 death toll to 142,000

The US drug epidemic has likely claimed the lives of twice as many Americans as currently estimated, new research suggests.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there were 63,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016.

But that estimate doesn’t include non-overdose deaths that have drugs at their root, like those from HIV, suicide and blood vessel damage.

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