Question: It is imperative that we know the difference between a dependent and independent variable. Using an Online Library, please identify an article on this, and compare and contrast these two types of variables.

Please explain whether you agree with my classmate response to the above question and why? (a mininum of 125 words)

In the United States, the issue with drugs has been on a steady incline. In 2016, there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United Stated. The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths in 2016 was 21% higher than the rate in 2015. Among persons aged 15 and over, adults aged 25-34, 35-44, and 45-54 had the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in 2016 at around 35 per 100,000. West Virginia, Ohio, New Hampshire, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania had the highest observed age-adjusted drug overdose death rates in 2016. The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone doubled between 2015 and 2016, from 3.1 to 6.1 per 100,000. The independent variable in this article is the opioid use. The dependent variable is death rate.

Drug overdose is a complex disease, and a public health issue quitting usually takes a strong will. Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even for those who want to. Studies has been done about how drugs affect the brain and have found treatments that can help people recover from drug addiction to lead a productive live.

Drug abuse carries the risk of serious side effects, whether it is abuse of alcohol, an illegal drug such as cocaine, or medications prescribed by a doctor for instance opioid painkillers.

Drug overdose, accidental or intentional occurs when a person takes more than the recommended dose of a prescription or over-the-counter drug. I was surprised to learn that U.S. government does not track death rates for every drug. However, the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collects information on many of the commonly used drugs. The CDC also has a searchable database, called CDC Wonder. Of the 64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016, the highest occurred from use of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids) with over 20,000 overdose deaths as indicated by CDC WONDER. Which is unfortunate because this is one of the highly control medications in the hospital but easy obtained outside the hospital.