USDA has unveiled a new webpage featuring resources to help rural communities respond to the opioid crisis.

“While no corner of the country has gone untouched by the opioid crisis, small towns and rural places have been particularly hard hit,” said Anne Hazlett, Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development. “The challenge of opioid misuse is an issue of rural prosperity and will take all hands on deck to address. The webpage we are launching today will help rural leaders build a response that is tailored to meet the needs of their community.” 

This comes a little more than a month after the nation’s two largest general farm organizations – the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union – launched a new website, FarmTownStrong.org, to provide resources to help struggling farm families and rural communities.

The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that more than 63,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016. More than half of those deaths involved opioids, including prescription drugs and heroin.

Source: USDA 

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One of the deadliest and most menacing challenges facing rural American today is opioid abuse. – Prairie Farmer

A poll sponsored by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union finds that 74% of farmers and farm workers have been directly impacted by opioid abuse. – Farm Futures

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year. – Farm Futures