International News Opinons Politics

Opioid Deaths Rise in Towns Where U.S. Auto Plants Have Closed

Opioid deaths sharply rise in American communities where multinational automakers have closed their United States plants and outsourced those jobs to foreign countries, the latest medical study confirms.

The study by acclaimed researchers, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, notes that American communities that experienced an auto plant closure within the last five years saw a much greater rate of opioid deaths than communities whose auto plants have remained open — confirming that towns and small cities that have been hit by job-killing free trade have suffered more in the opioid crisis.

Opioid deaths sharply rise in American communities where multinational automakers have closed their United States plants and outsourced those jobs to foreign countries, the latest medical study confirms.



Trump dangles $5,000 checks as debt surges — but only if GOP can clear major midterm hurdle
Before One of Charlie Kirk’s Final Speeches, He Was Warned Not to Talk About Christianity – That Was All the Motivation He Needed
False Moderates, Part 4: AOC’s Presidential Ambitions Could Threaten American Liberty
Newsom says Biden, Clinton, and Harris were too insulated; urges Democrats to get out of their bubble
9/11 Museum unveils exhibition for generation too young to remember the attacks: ‘Called everybody to lead’
America’s reddest state chases billion-dollar boom as others sour on massive emerging industry
Walz warned about African official operating Minnesota group homes from overseas
Teen boater found clinging to capsized vessel after 3 go missing; 2 bodies recovered
Ex-NFL cheerleader battles former gubernatorial aide in tight GOP primary race
Five takeaways from opening night of first-ever GOP midterm convention
Trump makes stunning first-of-its-kind cash promise in bid to rally GOP voters at Dallas midterm convention
Trump electrifies his base, but the nosebleeds are empty. Is it enough to win the midterms?
Fetterman teases where his true loyalty lies after surprise appearance at GOP convention
EXCLUSIVE: 25 years after 9/11, ICE says more than 2K known or suspected terrorists have been deported
Trump makes convention pitch for Paxton: You may not like his looks, but he’s the best AG in Texas history

See also  Kansas Republicans buck Trump over threat to blacklist Canadian jets

The study by acclaimed researchers, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, notes that American communities that experienced an auto plant closure within the last five years saw a much greater rate of opioid deaths than communities whose auto plants have remained open — confirming that towns and small cities that have been hit by job-killing free trade have suffered more in the opioid crisis.

The researchers note:

US manufacturing counties that experienced an automotive assembly plant closure were compared with counties in which automotive plants remained open from 1999 to 2016. Automotive assembly plant closures were associated with a statistically significant increase in county-level opioid overdose mortality rates among adults aged 18 to 65 years. [Emphasis added]

The study’s findings reveal that five years after a community’s auto plant closed, opioid deaths increased by 85 percent compared to communities whose auto plants have not closed.

Non-Hispanic white men, ages 18 to 34, are the hardest hit by the opioid crisis in these communities that have suffered an economic downturn due to outsourced auto manufacturing. Non-Hispanic white men from 35 to 65-years-old also are at a much greater risk of opioid death in these towns than other demographic groups, the study discovered.

Overall, the study looked at 112 American counties near auto plants from 1999 to 2016. About 28 of these counties experienced an auto plant closure in that time frame — a direct result of China’s entering the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

See also  Maria Bartiromo no longer with Fox News


Trump dangles $5,000 checks as debt surges — but only if GOP can clear major midterm hurdle
Before One of Charlie Kirk’s Final Speeches, He Was Warned Not to Talk About Christianity – That Was All the Motivation He Needed
False Moderates, Part 4: AOC’s Presidential Ambitions Could Threaten American Liberty
Newsom says Biden, Clinton, and Harris were too insulated; urges Democrats to get out of their bubble
9/11 Museum unveils exhibition for generation too young to remember the attacks: ‘Called everybody to lead’
America’s reddest state chases billion-dollar boom as others sour on massive emerging industry
Walz warned about African official operating Minnesota group homes from overseas
Teen boater found clinging to capsized vessel after 3 go missing; 2 bodies recovered
Ex-NFL cheerleader battles former gubernatorial aide in tight GOP primary race
Five takeaways from opening night of first-ever GOP midterm convention
Trump makes stunning first-of-its-kind cash promise in bid to rally GOP voters at Dallas midterm convention
Trump electrifies his base, but the nosebleeds are empty. Is it enough to win the midterms?
Fetterman teases where his true loyalty lies after surprise appearance at GOP convention
EXCLUSIVE: 25 years after 9/11, ICE says more than 2K known or suspected terrorists have been deported
Trump makes convention pitch for Paxton: You may not like his looks, but he’s the best AG in Texas history

See also  Kansas Republicans buck Trump over threat to blacklist Canadian jets

The study comes as automakers like General Motors (GM) have idled plants in Lordstown, Ohio and laid off American workers in Detroit, Michigan. Thousands of Americans who worked for GM have been laid off in the process as the corporation continues closing four of its U.S. plants.

As Breitbart News has reported, the opioid crisis continues to most significantly take the lives of young white Americans between 25 to 34-years-old living in suburbs. In 2017, young white Americans in suburbs had the highest rate of opioid deaths compared to all demographic groups — the second consecutive year this has occurred.

Last year, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly twice the U.S. population. For the first time, Americans are now more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than from injuries in a car crash.

Drug overdoses in 2017 killed an unprecedented 72,287 U.S. residents, nearly three times the number of individuals killed by global terrorism and 10,000 more than the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. Nearly 50,000 of those deadly overdoses were caused by either heroin or fentanyl.

Story cited here.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter