Drug related death rates are highest in the White population.

Data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER

The issue of drug misuse and addiction has become a serious public health emergency for the United States over the past twenty years.   In 2016, over 60,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, making overdoses cause more deaths than motor vehicle crashes.  Arkansas has also seen a rise in drug overdoses in recent years and in 2018, 426 Arkansans died from a drug overdose with opioids being the most widely identified drug.