Final answer:
The claim that more people died from heroin overdoses than from prescription opiates prior to 2013 is false. The opioid crisis led to an increase in heroin use and overdose deaths, particularly post-2013, due to shifts from prescription opioids to heroin as a result of various factors including the scarcity of pain pills and their higher street cost.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that heroin overdoses were lower than prescription opiates overdoses prior to 2013 is false. As the opioid crisis escalated, many individuals who were addicted to prescription opioids such as Oxycodone found themselves turning to cheaper alternatives like heroin, due to the scarcity and high street price of prescription pain pills. This switch was further fueled by aggressive policing of pill mills and a reformulation of Oxycodone, which made it more difficult to misuse. Consequently, between 1999 and 2014, heroin-related overdose deaths soared by 439 percent. Furthermore, by 2014, there were significantly more accidental deaths from drug overdoses, predominantly due to heroin and opioid painkillers, than from motor vehicle crashes.
It's clear that the increase in heroin-related deaths is tied to the larger context of the opioid epidemic, which has impacted people across all demographics. With the introduction of synthetic opioids like fentanyl and carfentanyl, which are often mixed with heroin to keep costs low, the potency and the risk of overdose have significantly increased. By 2019, the crisis reached such a magnitude that approximately 130 people died each day from opioid overdose in the United States.