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The College of New Jersey Magazine
PORTUGAL
Drug overdose deaths in 2000 (the year prior to decriminalization): 281
Drug overdose deaths in 2008: 94
Drug overdose deaths in 2015: 40
Syringes distributed in 2015: 1,004,706
Drug-induced deaths per million people in 2017: 6
Sources: European Drug Report 2017;
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
NUMBERS
FROM AN EPIDEMIC
UNITED STATES
Drug overdose deaths in 2000: 17,415
Drug overdose deaths in 2016: 63,600
Drug overdose deaths involving opioids in 2016: 42,249
Drug-induced death per million people in 2017: 185
U.S. drug overdose deaths per million were 31 times
as high as in Portugal
NEW JERSEY
Drug overdose deaths, July 2016–July 2017: 2,284
Percentage increase from the previous year: 35
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; European Drug Report 2017; New York Times
Street corner in Lisbon
