BALTIMORE—According to a study published Monday by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the majority of the nearly 9,000 accidental heroin overdoses that occur in the U.S. each year could easily be prevented if the victim were to take less heroin. “Our data clearly showed that, in more than 95 percent of cases, had the individual used a smaller amount of heroin than they actually did, their chances of overdosing on heroin would have been significantly lowered,” said the study’s co-author Natalie Czerbett, adding that the results were the same regardless of whether a reduced quantity of the drug was snorted, smoked, or injected. “While these findings are by no means a silver bullet, I think it’s fairly conclusive that putting less heroin into your body is a highly effective preventative measure against overdosing on heroin.” Czerbett suggested that further research was needed to determine whether heroin overdoses could be reduced even further by mixing the drug with less cocaine.

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