Science Stats Health & Medicine

Blame opioids for a fifth of young adult deaths in the United States

The drugs were behind just 4 percent of deaths in 2001 for this age group

woman visiting grave

IN MEMORIUM  A woman visits the grave of her fiancé, who died of an opioid overdose in 2014 at the age of 28.

Jim Cole/AP Photo

By Aimee Cunningham

- More than 2 years ago

Opioids have quickly become a major cause of death among young Americans aged 25 to 34, with one in five deaths in 2016 tied to the drugs, researchers report online June 1 in JAMA Open Network.