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These pharmacies distributed the most opioids in Houston-area counties, according to DEA report

The United States is facing an opioid crisis. Now, there are numbers that prove it.

Recently, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) created a data set and maps that track every pain pill sold in the United States. The study includes information about manufacturers. distributors and pharmacies in every town and city, including Houston.

Thanks to analysis by The Washington Post, which studied almost 380 million DEA database transactions from 2006 through 2012, we now know that oxycodone and hydrocodone account for three-quarters of the total opioid pill shipments to pharmacies.

The study also reveals that  the “prescription opioid epidemic resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths during the seven-year time frame ending in 2012.”

Counties had a wide range of pills per person, per year.

Of the dozen counties examined by Chron.com, Liberty County prescribed the highest rate of opioids, at 65 pills per person per year.  Galveston County followed at 40.

On the opposite end of the scale, Waller County averaged just 6 pills per person, per year. Chambers County was next lowest at and 11.

Above, you can see which drug stores in counties in and around Houston received the most opioids, according to a new report from the Drug Enforcement Agency and analysis by The Washington Post.

All of the information and quotations in the slides above comes from The Washington Post’s analysis of the latest DEA’s opioid report (2006-2012).

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