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Deaths resulting from drug overdose have reached a record-high count in a recently published report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The alarming surge of overdose deaths was the highest since at least 1970 and was 7% higher than the recorded tally last year.

"The United States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose (poisoning) deaths," the CDC report revealed as mentioned in a BBC News article.

According to WWLP 22 News, official record count from the federal health agency showed that the surges were reportedly very high in 14 states namely Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

In a news article published by Brandon Sun, West Virginia had the highest per capita overdose death rate at 35.5 per 100, 000 which was significantly higher than the national average of 15 per 100, 000 revealing a deep-seated problem that requires a huge undertaking to solve it.

NBC News linked a huge number of overdose deaths to powerful drugs that were proven to be extremely fatal when taken beyond their prescribed amounts such as opioid painkillers.

Opioid is particularly notorious as deaths resulting from the overdose of this powerful painkiller increased by 200% since 2000 as mentioned by CNN.

New Zealand Herald also placed blame on the unscrupulous consumption of other strictly regulated prescription drugs like sedatives as well as illegal narcotics such as heroin and cocaine.

As a response to a huge spike of overdose-related fatalities, CDC called on public health authorities as well as doctors to apply stringent guidelines when prescribing powerful pain-relievers and other extremely potent prescription drugs to patients.