TOPLINE
Opioid overdose deaths cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion a year, the U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking said Tuesday, a “staggering amount” it says underlines the “direct and escalating threat” the opioid epidemic poses to the economy, public health and safety and national security.
KEY FACTS
The panel came up with the estimate based on a White House Council of Economic Advisors’ 2018 report that determined the cost of overdose fatalities amounted to $696 billion a year at a time when the death toll was about two thirds of today’s.
Between June 2020 and May 2021, 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, 30% higher than the year before and more than double the number of deaths caused by car accidents or gun violence during that period.
About two thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl and primarily affected victims between the ages of 15 and 45, the report says.
The loss of productivity and increases in healthcare and criminal justice costs tied to opioid overdose deaths amounted to a cost of about $700 billion per year in 2016 and 2017, according to the report.
Synthetic opioid overdose deaths continue to ramp up across the U.S. and “show no signs of abating,” the report says.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“In terms of loss of life and damage to the economy, illicit synthetic opioids have the effect of a slow-motion weapon of mass destruction in pill form,” the report said.
KEY BACKGROUND
More than 550,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses over the past 20 years, according to the report. Almost 200,000 of those deaths involved synthetic opioids, the most common being illegally manufactured fentanyl. Overdoses caused by the drug are the leading cause of deaths for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, according to the report. The U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking is a bipartisan panel made up of representatives from government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, along with lawmakers from the House and Senate. Between 8% and 12% of people who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain develop a physical or psychological reliance on the drug, according to the report. Suicides by drug overdose have increased among Black women, young people and the elderly, according to a study published last week.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
More fatal opioid overdoses. More than 1.2 million Canadians and Americans will die from opioid overdoses by 2029 if the epidemic is not tamed, a group of leading health experts wrote in a report published last week.
FURTHER READING
Economic Toll Of Opioid Epidemic: $1.3 Trillion A Year (Forbes)
1.2 Million Opioid Overdose Deaths Expected In U.S. And Canada By 2029, Experts Warn (Forbes)
Drug Overdose Suicides Increasing Among Black Women, Young People And The Elderly (Forbes)
By Carlie Porterfield, Forbes Staff