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The Economic Consequences of Opioid Addiction in America

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II. Workplace <strong>Consequences</strong><br />

<strong>Opioid</strong> Crisis Has Cost US<br />

Roughly 1M Workers, $702B: Study<br />

by Sylvan Lane - 03/27/18 05:09 PM EDT<br />

<strong>The</strong> U.S. economy has lost close to 1 million workers and $702 billion due to opioid<br />

addiction, accord<strong>in</strong>g to a study released Tuesday.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>America</strong>n Action Forum (AAF), a right-lean<strong>in</strong>g th<strong>in</strong>k tank, analyzed the impact <strong>of</strong><br />

the opioid epidemic on U.S. labor force participation and output between 1999 and<br />

2015. <strong>The</strong> group applied f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs from previous studies on the economic impact <strong>of</strong><br />

opioid addiction to data track<strong>in</strong>g the size <strong>of</strong> the U.S. workforce and gross domestic<br />

product (GDP).<br />

Roughly 425,000 men and 471,000 women <strong>of</strong> prime work<strong>in</strong>g age (between 25 and 54)<br />

who were employed or look<strong>in</strong>g for a job left the labor force by 2015 because <strong>of</strong> opioid<br />

addiction, the study found. That’s roughly 914,000 prime-age workers, close to 25<br />

percent <strong>of</strong> the total decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> U.S. labor force participation.<br />

Page 25 <strong>of</strong> 159

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