This is a good comment. I was thinking of the state I was in at the time (https://kiprc.uky.edu/sites/default/files/2022-06/KY%20Drug%20Overdose%20Deaths%20Annual%20Report%202021.pdf), but even there I was not strictly correct, as overdose dropped slightly two years before COVID but then increased slightly the year before. Kentucky was doing better than the nation as a whole at the time. Regardless, what I wrote was not correct, and I stand corrected on the statistical point. However, the available data as you’ve cited them still support the policy point I was making: overdose deaths increased dramatically relative to existing trends during the COVID era.
I personally witnessed Anne Case and Angus Deaton present at NIH several years ago, giving a compelling talk on deaths of despair. A questioner (presumably an NIH researcher) sneered at them for talking about problems that affected “white men”. At the time, I was surprised by the level of immaturity and hate in that response
That was unfortunate because our response to public health problems shouldn't change depending upon the race or gender of those who seem to be most affected. Racializing the opioid problem was shortsighted because more recent data shows that overdose death rates for blacks, especially black men, are higher than those for most demographic groups:
This is a good comment. I was thinking of the state I was in at the time (https://kiprc.uky.edu/sites/default/files/2022-06/KY%20Drug%20Overdose%20Deaths%20Annual%20Report%202021.pdf), but even there I was not strictly correct, as overdose dropped slightly two years before COVID but then increased slightly the year before. Kentucky was doing better than the nation as a whole at the time. Regardless, what I wrote was not correct, and I stand corrected on the statistical point. However, the available data as you’ve cited them still support the policy point I was making: overdose deaths increased dramatically relative to existing trends during the COVID era.
I personally witnessed Anne Case and Angus Deaton present at NIH several years ago, giving a compelling talk on deaths of despair. A questioner (presumably an NIH researcher) sneered at them for talking about problems that affected “white men”. At the time, I was surprised by the level of immaturity and hate in that response
Thanks for the clarification and for sharing what you observed during Case and Deaton's presentation at NIH.
As you noted, many people thought the opioid epidemic was a "white" problem. This NPR report from 2017 illustrates the point:
https://www.npr.org/2017/11/04/562137082/why-is-the-opioid-epidemic-overwhelmingly-white
That was unfortunate because our response to public health problems shouldn't change depending upon the race or gender of those who seem to be most affected. Racializing the opioid problem was shortsighted because more recent data shows that overdose death rates for blacks, especially black men, are higher than those for most demographic groups:
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-deaths-by-raceethnicity/?dataView=1¤tTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/01/19/recent-surge-in-u-s-drug-overdose-deaths-has-hit-black-men-the-hardest/