--- title: U.S. Heroin Deaths Double in Two Years description: Though fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers are down canonical: https://time.com/3460809/heroin-death-overdose/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-03T12:43:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:34.222Z article:section: Health og:title: U.S. Heroin Deaths Double in Two Years og:description: Though fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers are down og:url: https://time.com/3460809/heroin-death-overdose/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2617fb69e261fb/6986a39f55a859857ba8296e/heroin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Vermont Battles With Deadly Heroin Epidemic og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Heroin Deaths Double in Two Years twitter:description: Though fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers are down twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2617fb69e261fb/6986a39f55a859857ba8296e/heroin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Heroin Deaths in the U.S. Have Doubled in 2 Years  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Oct 3, 2014 12:43 PM UTC  Drugs are prepared to shoot intravenously by a user addicted to heroin on February 6, 2014 in St. Johnsbury Vermont. Drugs are prepared to shoot intravenously by a user addicted to heroin on February 6, 2014 in St. Johnsbury Vermont.Spencer Platt—Getty Images  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Oct 3, 2014 12:43 PM UTC Deaths in the U.S. from heroin overdoses [doubled](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6339a1.htm?s%5Fcid=mm6339a1%5Fw) between 2010 and 2012 in the 28 states where data was available, according to a study published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The sharp increase in heroin-related deaths from 1.0 to 2.1 per 100,000 people held true for both men and women across all age groups and all races except for American Indians and Alaskan natives. The rise in heroin overdose deaths from 1,779 to 3,665 comes as deaths from prescription painkillers like OxyContin—sometimes referred to as “hillbilly heroin”—have leveled off or fallen across much of the country in recent years, though they remain more common than heroin overdoses. Deaths from drug overdose in general have been increasing in the U.S. over the past 20 years.  Experts believe the increase in heroin deaths may be linked to a crackdown on abuse of prescription “opioid” painkillers, making the synthetic drugs more expensive at a time when heroin is flooding the market. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3460809/heroin-death-overdose/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3460809/heroin-death-overdose/"},"headline":"Heroin Deaths in the U.S. Have Doubled in 2 Years","datePublished":"2014-10-03T12:43:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:34.222Z","description":"Though fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers are down","url":"https://time.com/3460809/heroin-death-overdose/","keywords":["Drugs","Heroin","Overdose"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2617fb69e261fb/6986a39f55a859857ba8296e/heroin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d2617fb69e261fb/6986a39f55a859857ba8296e/heroin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vermont Battles With Deadly Heroin Epidemic","caption":"Vermont Battles With Deadly Heroin Epidemic","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3460809/heroin-death-overdose/","name":"Heroin Deaths in the U.S. Have Doubled in 2 Years"}}]}] ```