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Leonard J. Paulozzi, MD, MPH

Leonard J. Paulozzi is with the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Leonard J. Paulozzi, MD, MPH, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 4770 Buford Hwy NE, Mail Stop K-63, Atlanta, GA 30341 (e-mail: lbp4{at}cdc.gov).

I measured the role of opioid analgesics in drug abuse–related deaths in a consistent panel of 28 metropolitan areas from the Drug Abuse Warning Network. The number of reports of opioid analgesics increased 96.6% from 1997 to 2002; methadone, oxycodone, and unspecified opioid analgesics accounted for 74.3% of the increase. Oxycodone reports increased 727.8% (from 72 to 596 reports). By 2002, opioid analgesics were noted more frequently than were heroin or cocaine. Dramatic increases in the availability of such opioids have made their abuse a major, growing problem.

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