January 1, 1.2 Million Years of Life Lost to Drug Overdoses

A new study has found that adolescents and young adults lost an estimated 1.2 million years of life due to unintentional drug overdoses.

Ohio State University researchers analyzed unintentional drug overdoses in the U.S. between 2015 and 2019. About 3,300 adolescents ages 10–19 years old died in that timeframe, representing approximately 187,078 years of life lost.

That number totals nearly 22,000 when expanding the age group to overdose deaths among 10–24 years old. Researchers said that males collectively lost more years of life.

The study’s authors said that years of life lost offer “important context to the overdose crisis by better representing what is meant to society by the loss of adolescents and young people.”

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Over 1 million years of life lost to drug overdoses