The current focus on Never Forget Me is regarding drug miss-use/overdoses (accidental or otherwise). Below are estimates provided by different resources to display statistics and trends of the problem. At the time of this writing, 11% of our Forever Children have died because or in relation to the topic of drugs.
Recent trends appear promising as the numbers have declined over the past 2 years. That being said, the numbers are still much to high. I am sad to say that my son Calvin, who is the sole reason for the creation of Never Forget Me, is included in this category for his cause of death.
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If you or someone you know is having trouble with drug addiction, please reach out for help.
| Drug | Value |
|---|---|
| Synthetic Opioids | ~48,000 |
| Psychostimulants | ~30,000 |
| Cocaine | ~22,000 |
| Natural Opioids | ~8000 |
| Total | ~83,000 (~2% of total deaths in the U.S.) |
According to the CDC, In both 2022 and 2023, the rate of drug overdose deaths was highest for adults aged 35–44.
In 2022, drug overdose death rates were highest among people aged 25-64