The crisis has been so devastating that it strains comparisons. Nationally, more lives lost in a single year than lost in the entire Vietnam war. The only man-made health problem big enough to cause a decline in life expectancy. In Philadelphia, three overdose deaths for every homicide. An epidemic in which children have lost parents and parents have lost (often multiple) children. A drug crisis mostly hidden in homes but also overflowing onto the streets in the form of strewn syringes, homeless encampments, and men and women nodding off on sidewalks.
https://www.philly.com/health/opioid-overdose-crisis-philadelphia-health-commissioner-20190523.html
By Dr. Thomas Farley
The Collected Works of Jim Garrow 