Painkillers are killing us.

• Author: Hansen, Melissa K.
• Position: TRENDS - Brief article

States are on the front lines of a drug overdose epidemic that kills an estimated 113 Americans every day--more than die from motor vehicle crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As legislators and health experts discuss in a new NCSL video, "Prescription Drug Overdoses: An American Epidemic," the crisis is devastating families and costing states millions of dollars in health care, lost productivity and law enforcement.

Drug overdose deaths in the United States have tripled since 1990, primarily due to increasing rates of prescription opioid painkiller abuse and accidental misuse, the CDC says. The agency is helping states fight the epidemic with grants designed to beef up states' prescription...