The Changing Geography of the Opioid Crisis

America’s opioid crisis has reached epidemic proportions. In contrast to previous deadly drug epidemics like the heroin crisis of the 1970s, which was highly concentrated in cities and urban areas, opioids have affected rural areas the most: Over the past two decades, deaths from opioid overdoses have climbed by more than 700 percent in smaller rural areas, versus less than 400 percent in cities and metropolitan areas. A recent study by a team of researchers at Syracuse University, the University of Iowa, and Iowa State University takes a deep dive into the changing geography of the opioid crisis.