Opioid Overdoses
Visualizing U.S. Opioid Overdose Statistics
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Our project and mission
This project aims to visualize, analyze, and provide critical context for data on opioid overdoses, sourced from the NIDA Drug Death Overdoses 1999-2022 Dataset. Our work shows different ways of viewing the data, with a goal of understanding how different demographic variables may act as risk factors for fatal opioid overdose.
Our mission in creating this project is to bring critical insight to fatal opioid overdose data through the lens of the Digital Humanities. We believe that using humanistic perspectives to analyze and contextualize the data is crucial to understanding the factors that determine which populations are disproportionately affected by fatal opioid overdose. Disparities in opioid usage across communities reflects deeper inequities based on race, age, gender, socioeconomic status, and other identity factors. Understanding these complex factors is important for shaping public opinion and health policies aimed at reducing overdose rates. Additionally, a humanistic perspective can help understand how resources should be made available to underserved communities, as well as what type of resources are most effective at reducing fatal overdose.
This website was created as the final project for UC Berkeley Summer Session 2024's DigHum 100 course, "Theory and Methods in the Digital Humanities."
Read more about our team and our work process on the "About" page.
What are opioids?
Opioids are a class of highly addictive drugs that work on opioid receptors in the brain to cause pain-relieving and anesthetic effects. They can also induce feelings of euphoria in users, which is why they are commonly used as a recreational drug. Opioids act by suppressing the central and peripheral nervous systems—when consumed in large quantities, users may experience a slowing of breathing, which can eventually lead to oxygen deprivation and death.
In the U.S., opioids can be obtained legally for pain-relief purposes, and less-addictive opioids are also used to treat opioid use disorders. Common opioids used within healthcare settings include oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. Some users may become addicted to opioids after receiving a legitimate prescription in a healthcare setting. Once the prescription expires, they may be at risk to seek out less trustworthy, potentially illegal sources of opioids.
Opioids can also be be obtained illegally, with heroin and fentanyl being the most commonly encountered opioids among street drugs. Heroin is an illegal drug that is naturally derived from the Papver somniferum (opium poppy) plant. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be 20 to 40 times more potent than heroin. Although fentanyl can be legally prescribed for medical uses, it is often used to lace other drugs to make them more potent or addictive.
Navigating the project
Accessibility Features:
Universal access was one of our core values when designing this project. We've included the following features in our web design:
clear serif-fonts for text
simple, appropriately labeled, navigation features
color-blind friendly colors and contrast ratios
alternative text for all images
We have based our design decisions with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in mind, if you have difficulty accessing this website for any reason, please contact us so that we can rectify the issue.
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