For the first time in the history of the United States, an American is now more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than a car crash, a National Safety Council report recently revealed.

The “Injury Facts” report from the National Safety Council claims the odds of dying from an accidental opioid overdose in 2017 increased to one in 96 — a greater risk than the chance of death resulting from a car crash.

“We’ve made significant strides in overall longevity in the United States, but we are dying from things typically called accidents at rates we haven’t seen in half a century,” said Ken Kolosh, manager of statistics at the National Safety Council. “We cannot be complacent about 466 lives lost every day. This new analysis reinforces that we must consistently prioritize safety at work, at home and on the road to prevent these dire outcomes.”

Overall, there was a 5.3 percent increase in preventable injury-related death from 2016 to 2017.

National Safety Council officials claim the current increasing trend is fueled by a large increase in the opioid epidemic that has worsened with the influx of illicit fentanyl in the United States, as well as increases in vehicle fatalities and falls by elderly adults.

“Most people that are using heroin know that it all has fentanyl in it now,” said Bob Sharits, program director at The Way Out Recovery SCV. “You can tell by looking at it, by the way it burns, by the way it smells whether or not it has fentanyl in it.”

Among the many dangers of heroin use is the fact that the actual chemical content of heroin is extremely unpredictable, according to officials.

“So think about it — if you’re baking a cake and you have all the ingredients in it, but we’re in a hurry to get it done, we just kind of throw it together and shake it up and let’s go, and it’s not going to be mixed that well,” said Sharits. “And so I might get a corner of that same bag that you and I got, and that corner has all the fentanyl in it, and so now we’re doing the same amount, but I’m dying from it because it’s got the stronger concentration in it.”

The United States statistics is not far from Santa Clarita data, according to officials.

“Santa Clarita is not any different than any other city in the United States; we have a drug problem here,” said Sharits. “We are maybe more affluent than a lot of other communities, and so we have more money, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a drug problem.”

Santa Clarita’s affluence actually increases its popularity as a target for drug dealers, according to Sharits.

“A drug dealer from the San Fernando Valley or wherever knows that if they drive over to Santa Clarita, they can find 17-, 18-, 19-year-olds with $40 in their pocket and they can sell them drugs,” said Sharits. “From a drug dealer’s marketing perspective, this is a community where they can make some sales, so it is going to be targeted.”

The National Safety Council report also showed that preventable injuries were the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer; however they hit a record high in 2017, as they claimed 169,936 lives.

Among those three causes of death, only preventable injuries experienced an increase in likelihood in 2017, reported as a one in 25 chance, up from one in 30 in 2004.

Top killers, such as heart disease and cancer, ranked at a one-in-six chance and a one-in-seven chance, respectively, according to the National Safety Council.

“If you think somebody is using, say something about it. If you have a problem yourself, say something about it. It’s ok to talk about it,” said Sharits. “That’s the most important thing, is to talk openly about addiction.”

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