The Danger of Opioids

As a program, we try to pick areas of focus outside of football to try to help our players prepare for the larger game of life. Often, this includes learning even for us coaches. One of our focus topics is Opioid Abuse. I wanted to share a few sobering statistics that were recently passed across my desk...

• 2016 Accidental Deaths:

1. Overdose – 63,600
2. Guns – 38,000
3. Car Accidents – 37,400

• More people have died from opioid overdose than in the Vietnam War.
• The US is 5% of the world’s population but uses 80% of the world’s opioids.
• Indiana ranks 16th in opioid deaths.
• Heroin use has doubled in 18–25 year-olds in the last decade.
• 80% of heroin users started with prescription opioids by the age of 15.
• Using any substance by age 15 increases the addiction rate 5x due to brain development.

Clearly, you can see why this is an area where we really see value in educating ourselves and our players. For more information, visit: www.overdoselifeline.org.