As the statistics pile up, the conclusions become unavoidable: the country's opioid crisis is deeply rooted, and its effects are wide-ranging. Here are some of the latest reports on the magnitude of the problem.

Reuters: More Than a Third of US Adults Prescribed Opioids in 2015
"People who were between ages 18 and 49 years, men, or college graduates were less likely to have been prescribed opioids than those who were older, female, or not college graduates."

New York Times: White House Commission Recommends Declaring National Emergency on Opioids
"Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration, said declaring a public health emergency under the Stafford Act, as the commission recommended, was usually reserved for natural disasters like hurricanes."

USA Today: Proportion of Drivers Killed While Under Influence of Opioids Shows Huge Spike
"Researchers found that the prevalence of drivers with prescription opioids detected in their systems at the time of death surged from 1.0% in 1995 to 7.2% in 2015."

UPI: Opioid Abuse Down in Younger Americans, But Up Among Older Adults
"Researchers found that the prevalence of drivers with prescription opioids detected in their systems at the time of death surged from 1.0% in 1995 to 7.2% in 2015."

Washington Post: Leftover Opioids Are a Common Dilemma for Surgery Patients
"At least two-thirds of patients reported having leftover opioids afterward; often more than half the prescribed pills were unused."