, Columnist
How the Opioid Crisis Makes Everyone Poorer
It’s undermining people’s ability to work.
Productivity killer.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
America’s opioid crisis is a terrible tragedy in itself. Increasingly, though, the evidence suggests that it’s behind another malaise: the growing ranks of prime-aged males dropping out of the labor force.
The epidemic of opioid and opiate drug abuse contrasts sharply with a broader improvement in Americans’ health. Violent crime, domestic violence and teen pregnancy are all way down. Cancer survival rates are up, and HIV is on the way out. Air and water pollution have decreased.