美国有线新闻 CNN 超10万美国人死于毒品过量

A new and bleak¹ record has been set concerning drug overdoses in America.

美国创下了吸毒过量这项黯淡的新记录。

This month the U.S. Centers for Disease Control released estimates on drug overdoses recorded between June of 2020 and June of 2021.

本月，美国疾病控制中心发布了对2020年6月至2021年6月期间记录的药物过量的估计。

During that year long period, the health agency believes that more than 101,000 Americans died of a drug overdose.

在这一年的时间里，卫生机构认为超过10.1万名美国人死于药物过量。

If our reporting on this sounds familiar, it wasn't that long ago we covered the previous record for U.S. overdose deaths.

如果我们对这一事件的报道听起来很熟悉，那是因为就在不久前，我们报道了美国服药过量死亡的记录。

That had been set between the Spring of 2020 and the Spring of 2021, and that was the first year long period when the number of estimated deaths exceeded 100,000.

那是在2020年春到2021年春之间记录的，那是估计死亡人数超过10万人的第一年。

So, the record we're reporting on today accounts for almost 100,000 more deaths than the last one, and they amounted to a 21 percent increase over the year before.

因此，我们今天报道的记录显示，与上一次相比，死亡人数增加了近10万人，比前一年增加了21%。

Most of these fatalities² came from synthetic³ or manmade painkillers⁴ like fentanyl.

大多数死亡都是由芬太尼等合成止痛药或人造止痛药造成的。

It's an extremely potent⁵ opioid that's many times stronger than other painkillers.

这是一种非常强效的阿片类药物，药效比其他止痛药强很多倍。

Fentanyl was intended to be used for cancer patients or injured people in severe pain, but it's also been blended illegally with other drugs and sold to people who abuse them and its strength can cause an unintended overdose.

芬太尼原本是用来治疗癌症患者或严重疼痛的伤者的，但该药物也被非法与其他药物混合，出售给滥用药物的人，其强度可能会无意识地导致过量。

The U.S. government says illegal fentanyl has been seized in every state, but it's not the only drug problem the country has.

美国政府表示，每个州都查获了非法芬太尼，但这并不是美国唯一的毒品问题。

Illegal cocaine⁶ and methamphetamine accounted for about 30 percent of the overdoses in the CDC's latest report, and the deaths caused from those drugs had increased as well.

在疾控中心的最新报告中，非法可卡因和甲基苯丙胺约占过量毒品的30%，这些药物造成的死亡人数也有所增加。

So why is all this happening?

那么为什么会发生这一切呢？

Drug abuse was a problem in America long before the COVID pandemic hit, but health officials say the pandemic likely made things worse as an increase in deaths occurred during the lockdowns in the Spring of 2020.

早在新冠疫情爆发之前，药物滥用就已经是美国的一个问题，但卫生官员表示，新冠疫情可能让情况变得更糟，因为在2020年春季封锁期间，死亡人数有所增加。

1 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

2 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

4 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

5 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

6 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。