The political consequences of opioid overdoses
Autor: | Eitan D. Hersh, Aaron R. Kaufman |
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Rok vydání: | 2020 |
Předmět: |
Male
Economics Social Sciences Elections Geographical locations 0302 clinical medicine Medicine and Health Sciences Economics of Poverty 050602 political science & public administration Public and Occupational Health 030212 general & internal medicine Analgesics Human Capital Multidisciplinary Politics 05 social sciences Drugs Middle Aged 0506 political science Analgesics Opioid Important research Oncology Medicine Female Research Article medicine.drug medicine.medical_specialty Science Political Science Drug overdose 03 medical and health sciences Health Economics Political science medicine Humans Pain Management Medical prescription Psychiatry Pharmacology Health economics Public health Cancers and Neoplasms medicine.disease United States Opioids Health Care Opioid Labor Economics Accidental North America Drug Overdose People and places |
Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 8, p e0236815 (2020) |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
Popis: | The United States suffered a dramatic and well-documented increase in drug-related deaths from 2000 to 2018, primarily driven by prescription and non-prescription opioids, and concentrated in white and working-class areas. A growing body of research focuses on the causes, both medical and social, of this opioid crisis, but little work as yet on its larger ramifications. Using novel public records of accidental opioid deaths linked to behavioral political outcomes, we present causal analyses showing that opioid overdoses have significant political ramifications. Those close to opioid victims vote at lower rates than those less affected by the crisis, even compared to demographically-similar friends and family of other unexpected deaths. Moreover, among those friends and family affected by opioids, Republicans are 25% more likely to defect from the party than the statewide average Republican, while Democrats are no more likely to defect; Independents are moderately more likely to register as Democrats. These results illustrate an important research design for inferring the effects of tragic events and speak to the broad social and political consequences of what is becoming the largest public health crisis in modern United States history. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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