NYT: Drug Deaths Surpass Car and Gun Fatalities Combined

The New York Times reported U.S. drug deaths Wednesday by noting the number of Americans killed by drugs is higher than the number of Americans killed by cars and guns combined.

The NYT tweeted:

Breaking News: Over 100,000 people in the U.S. died of drug overdoses as the pandemic spread, surpassing the toll of gun violence and car crashes combined. The nearly 30% rise in deaths last year was fueled by the use of fentanyl. https://t.co/6SFgqhZcmo

— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 17, 2021

The NYT article says:

In the 12-month period that ended in April, more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses, up almost 30 percent from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year, according to provisional figures from the National Center for Health Statistics. The figure marks the first time the number of overdose deaths in the United States has exceeded 100,000 a year, more than the toll of car crashes and gun fatalities combined. Overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015.

The top 10 causes of death in the National Safety Council’s “Odds of Dying” chart are:

1. Heart Attack
2. Cancer
3. All Preventable Forms of Death
4. Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease
5. Suicide
6. Opioid Overdose
7. Fall
8. Motor-Vehicle Crash
9. Gun Assault
10. Pedestrian Incident

The left has spent years calling for guns to be regulated in the same way that motor vehicles are regulated in the U.S. But the National Safety Council information shows Americans have higher chance of motor vehicle death than death via gun assault.

The odds of dying via motor vehicle crash are one in 107 while the odds of dying via a gun assault are one in 289.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at [email protected]. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

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