How Mexican heroin cartels are targeting small-town America

Re:How Mexican heroin cartels are targeting small-town America by cmpxchg on Saturday September 26, 2015 @10:25PM (#10285191)

The article uses terms like "epidemic," but the map graphic suggests a national mortality rate of around 2.5 per 100,000. That's 0.0025%, or 7,500 people per year.

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Re:How Mexican heroin cartels are targeting small-town America by austinheap on Saturday September 26, 2015 @11:19PM (#10285310)

NIH/NIDA supports that number: https://d14rmgtrwzf5a.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/cdc...

From 2001 to 2013 there was a 5-fold increase in the total number of deaths from heroin overdose.

Edit: I believe a 500% increase in overdose deaths qualifies under the 'epidemic' definition of "a sudden, widespread occurrence of a particular undesirable phenomenon."

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Re:How Mexican heroin cartels are targeting small-town America by jnbiche on Saturday September 26, 2015 @11:26PM (#10285333)

So if there a rare disease increases 500% from a few to a few dozen, does that count as an outbreak?

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