Life expectancy in US drops for second year running; opioid abuse to blame

Washington

FOR the second year in a row, life expectancy in the United States has dropped.

It is not hard to understand why: In 2016, there was a 21 per cent rise in the number of deaths caused by drug overdoses, with opioids causing two-thirds of them. Last year, the opioid epidemic killed 42,000 people, more than the number who died of Aids in any year at the height of the crisis.