Faced with an alarming increase in opioid addiction, a growing number of prosecutors are charging dealers not just for selling but for the deaths of customers who overdose on heroin or fentanyl. Here are some questions and answers about opioid abuse and this approach to pursuing dealers. __ HOW MANY AMERICANS DIE OF OPIOID OVERDOSES? There were 28,647 opioid overdose deaths in 2014, including heroin, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That represented 61 percent of all fatal drug overdoses that year: 47,055, the highest annual total on record. The fatalities include those from abused prescription opioids such as Oxycontin. Deaths involving heroin nearly tripled...
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