The Opioid Crisis, Health, Healthcare, and Crime: A Review of Quasi-Experimental Economic Studies

Abstract

We review quasi-experimental studies that examine the relationship of opioids to health, healthcare, and crime in the U.S. Our findings align with the general perception that the opioid crisis has negatively impacted health and increased healthcare costs; we find limited evidence that appropriate opioid use enhances work capacity or carries other benefits. Extant studies suggest that opioids also increase crime, although the link is not as strong as has been observed in previous drug epidemics. This finding is consistent with the fact that opioids are pharmacologically different than stimulant substances like cocaine that have dominated earlier drug epidemic periods. We argue that the healthcare system has a potentially important role to play in combatting the opioid crisis, largely through the provision of treatments that address underlying addiction, and through the development of strategies to effectively curtail access to the drugs.