For those with even a cursory knowledge of United States domestic news will have heard of the opioid epidemic. This quiet problem has become massive in terms of its scale, and is likely to become along the biggest health crises to be seen in the US in modern times.

The problem, though, appears to be getting worse: previously thought to be contained mostly to adults, it appears that this might not be the case. Through accidental overdoses, suicide and homicide, many children and teenagers are being killed due to the crisis – with some 9,000 children and teenagers dying from opioid poisoning from 1999 to 2016.

More worryingly, though, is the fact that these numbers have tripled in the 18-year spell announced above. This harrowing news was found by Yale University researchers, who released a new report about the scale of youth deaths due to the opioid crisis.

Sadly, the findings also concluded that the epidemic shows no signs of slowing down, and that unless there are major collaborations with legislators, health officials and parents, it’s going to be hard to put an end to this immense problem.

Indeed, it was found that around just one in five of the deaths were intentional, with the Journal of the American Medical Association finding that children and teens are often unintended victims. Around 5% of the victims came from suicide, and around 2% from homicide. Tragically, a quarter of the children under the age of 5 were homicide victims.

A growing fear

Indeed, Yale research experts found that over one third – 365% – of deaths to teens aged 15-19 from 2014-2016 came from methadone. This was often found due to a parent or guardian using methadone in their own lives to combat addiction or deal with pain. Researchers found then that there was more methadone exposure due to it being such a common part of treatment today.

Without “further safeguards” being put in place, though, solutions are thin on the ground. With younger people far less likely to seek out aid and treatment, too, the numbers could be even higher than is assumed. Sadly, the link was found to be much the same for adults: they start with medical pills, move to heroin itself and then eventually move to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, leaving them with little chance of survival.

Dr. Marc Fishman of the Jon Hopkins University School of Medicine, a well-respected addiction psychiatrist for young people and young adults, said: “Even though we’re treating patients better with medication, it’s a wake-up call to be as careful with these medications than any others,

While the National Institute for Drug Abuse found in their recent report that opioid misuse was at a 43-year high as part of their Monitoring the Future survey, the number of deaths is showing no signs of slowing down. With around 14% of US high school students having been reported for misuse of prescription opioids, though, it’s vital that something is done – and done soon – to ensure that usage can come down alongside death rates.

With over 17,000 opioid-related deaths in 2017 from overdose alone, it’s time that action was taken to help both children and adults make a clean break from this life-gripping problem.