Hard Numbers

72,287: Drug overdoses killed 72,287 people in the United States in 2017, a new record. A majority of the deaths, nearly 49,000, was caused by opioids. Compare that with 58,220 Americans killed in the Vietnam War.

720: In Venezuela, one liter of heavily subsidized gasoline still costs 1 bolivar. On the black market, Venezuelans pay more than 4 million bolivars for one US dollar. Therefore, the equivalent of one dollar would allow Venezuelans to fill the tank of a medium-sized car about 720 times.

475: Migrant arrivals in Spain during the first eight days of August were at least five times those in either Italy or Greece. On August 13 alone, Spain rescued 475 people on 12 different boats and an inflatable toy off Spain’s southern coast.

31: A new Quinnipiac poll  finds that 41 percent of Americans approve of Donald Trump’s job performance, but just 31 percent say they like him as a person. 59 percent dislike him. We’ll have to wait for voters to tell us what this discrepancy might mean.

30: More than 50 percent of Mexicans aged 12-29 work at jobs that don’t pay enough for basic needs like food and transportation. That’s about 30 percent of Mexico’s population.