While it can be difficult to get accurate numbers on the true extent of the synthetic opioid crisis, it can help to better understand which demographic groups have been affected the worst and why. CDC research indicates that the group experiencing the most overdoses on synthetics are men between 25 and 44 years old, many of them who are economically disadvantaged and have been legally prescribed opiates in the past. Many of these individuals may have first been prescribed opiates for pain before turning to illicit drugs like heroin and fentanyl.