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In Ohio, which covers both regions, the number of deaths dropped by a quarter in the year to July, the second biggest improvement of any state (North Carolina's was even steeper).
在涵蓋兩個地區(qū)的俄亥俄州，截至7月份的一年中，死亡人數(shù)下降了四分之一，在所有州中改善幅度排第二（北卡羅來納州的改善幅度更大）。
The epidemic may simply be "burning out", suggests Professor Ciccarone.
西卡羅內(nèi)教授認(rèn)為，這種流行可能只是“逐漸消退”。
The theory is that the most vulnerable have already died, that those left behind understand the danger from fentanyl, and so new addicts do not replace them.
理論是，最脆弱的人已經(jīng)死亡，留下的人了解芬太尼的危險，因此新的癮君子不會取代他們。
For a sense of why this is plausible, a visit to Butler County, Ohio—of which Hamilton is the seat—is instructive.
要了解為什么這是合理的，訪問俄亥俄州巴特勒縣（漢密爾頓是該縣的縣治）會很有啟發(fā)。
The county (where J. D. Vance, the vice president-elect, grew up) is a sprawl of farmland and industrial towns north of Cincinnati.
該縣（候任副總統(tǒng)J. D.萬斯的出生地）是辛辛那提以北的一個農(nóng)田和工業(yè)城鎮(zhèn)。
It was also early to the opiates boom (in the 1990s Mr Vance's mother, who worked as a nurse, was among the first to get addicted to pain pills). Now, it is among the places improving fastest in America.
這也是阿片類藥物熱潮的早期（20世紀(jì)90年代，萬斯的母親是一名護(hù)士，是最早對止痛藥上癮的人之一）。現(xiàn)在，它是美國改善最快的地方之一。
So far this year, there have been 88 suspected overdose deaths in the county, down from 130 last year. In 2017, the county's worst year on record, there were 236.
今年到目前為止，該縣已有88人疑似因藥物過量死亡，低于去年的130人。2017年是該縣有記錄以來最糟糕的一年，死亡人數(shù)為236人。
"We never thought we would see this drop this fast," says Jordan Meyer, an epidemiologist at the county's health district, which distributes Narcan kits and fentanyl testing strips. That must have helped.
“我們從未想過死亡人數(shù)會下降得如此之快，”該縣衛(wèi)生區(qū)的流行病學(xué)家喬丹·邁耶(Jordan Meyer)說道，該衛(wèi)生區(qū)負(fù)責(zé)分發(fā)納洛酮試劑盒和芬太尼測試條。這肯定有所幫助。
But the biggest change in Butler county is how drug users are behaving. "It's fear", says Dave Hawley, the clinical supervisor at River Rocks Recovery, a treatment centre in Middletown.
但巴特勒縣最大的變化是吸毒者的行為方式。“這是恐懼，”米德爾敦治療中心River Rocks Recovery的臨床主管戴夫·霍利(Dave Hawley)說道。
In a place like Middletown, almost everybody will know somebody who has died of an overdose recently, he says.
他說，在米德爾敦這樣的地方，幾乎每個人都認(rèn)識最近因藥物過量而死亡的人。
With the rise of fentanyl, "It's not about riding the edge anymore". Even hardened addicts are taking more precautions than they used to.
隨著芬太尼的興起，“這不再是走投無路了”。即使是頑固的癮君子也比以前采取了更多的預(yù)防措施。
A few years ago the main way to take fentanyl was by injecting it. Now addicts are taking pills or smoking it, which is less risky.
幾年前，服用芬太尼的主要方式是注射。現(xiàn)在，癮君子們正在服用藥丸或吸食，風(fēng)險較小。
Xylazine, a veterinary sedative, is also increasingly mixed with fentanyl into a potent cocktail known as "tranq".
獸醫(yī)鎮(zhèn)靜劑賽拉嗪也越來越多地與芬太尼混合，制成一種名為“tranq”的強效雞尾酒。
Tranq comes with awful costs—injecting it can lead to flesh-rotting infections—but curiously it may be helping some users to avoid taking too much fentanyl.
Tranq的代價很高——注射會導(dǎo)致腐肉感染——但奇怪的是，它可能幫助一些用戶避免服用過多的芬太尼。
According to Mr Hawley, many fentanyl addicts have switched to taking methamphetamine.
據(jù)Hawley說，許多芬太尼成癮者已改用甲基苯丙胺。
This is used either as a straight substitute or to help ease withdrawal or overcome cravings. Meth is extremely unhealthy.
這要么是直接的替代品，要么是為了幫助緩解戒斷或克服渴望。冰毒極其不健康。
But in the short term, it is cheap and lasts a long time, and the overdose risk is smaller; if you are in opioid withdrawal, it can give you the energy to go to work.
但在短期內(nèi)，它很便宜，持續(xù)時間長，過量服用的風(fēng)險較小；如果你正在戒斷阿片類藥物，它可以給你精力去工作。
Of the fentanyl overdoses still happening in Butler county, half now also include methamphetamine. Drug epidemics can be depressingly persistent.
在巴特勒縣仍在發(fā)生的芬太尼過量服用中，一半現(xiàn)在也包括甲基苯丙胺。毒品流行病可能持續(xù)得令人沮喪。
Deaths have recently risen in Scotland, one of very few other places to suffer an overdose death rate comparable to America's.
蘇格蘭是極少數(shù)因藥物過量而死亡率與美國相當(dāng)?shù)牡胤街唬罱劳鋈藬?shù)有所上升。
But in most of Europe, the 1980s heroin boom faded away. Memories last longer than funding streams or police successes.
但在歐洲大部分地區(qū)，20世紀(jì)80年代的海洛因熱潮已經(jīng)消退。記憶比資金流或警察的成功更持久。
At the treatment centre in Hamilton, Mr Weaver says he too thinks people have learned from the awful experience of the past few years.
在漢密爾頓的治療中心，韋弗說，他也認(rèn)為人們從過去幾年的可怕經(jīng)歷中吸取了教訓(xùn)。
"It's just more people who want to get their lives back together", he says. Drugs offered an escape from the monotony and trauma of daily life. But fentanyl was, perhaps, just too much.
“只是更多的人想重新過上正常的生活”，他說。毒品提供了一種逃避日常生活單調(diào)和創(chuàng)傷的方法。但芬太尼可能太過分了。
