3. How many people are actually killed by drugs?

The number of drug deaths in the US in a typical year is as follows:

• Tobacco kills about 390,000.
• Alcohol kills about 80,000.
• Sidestream smoke from tobacco kills about 50,000.
• Cocaine kills about 2,200.
• Heroin kills about 2,000.
• Aspirin kills about 2,000.
• Marijuana kills 0. There has never been a recorded death due to marijuana at any time in US history.
• All illegal drugs combined kill about 4,500 people per year, or about one percent of the number killed by alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco kills more people each year than all of the people killed by all of the illegal drugs in the last century.

Source: NIDA Research Monographs