Obama, Red States and the Opioid Crisis: Coincidence or Connection?

[TomSea]

Obama, Red States and the Opioid Crisis: Coincidence or Connection?

by Suzanne Eovaldi, staff writer

Coincidence or connection?  It’s odd how statistics showing the escalating opioid crisis show the same yearly growth during the waning years of the Obama administration! The 2014 list of ten states with the most opioid deaths show eight to be red or leaning red states with only Delaware, at number nine and Rhode Island at # 6, being clearly left-voting states.

Number one in the year 2014 was West Virginia which still held that awful title in 2016.  Note here how W.Va is a long standing red state, full of working class employees and coal miners. New Mexico was second with New Hampshire at 3, but two years later Ohio had the second highest opioid death markers and New Hampshire drops to number 3. The other 2014 states are KY at 4, OH at 5, Rhode Island at 6, Utah at 7, PA at 8 and OK at number 10.  The swing state of OH experienced considerable leftist pressure to enter the blue column.  FL was mentioned on another map with high drug rate deaths but was not included in these stats.  This very important political swing state was susceptible to Obama administration pressure in several ways.  And the recent addition of 300,000 storm refugees from Puerto Rico certainly will be in evidence during important elections.
"Bend over, please"

Since Obama has been retired to his blue White House, even Congress has begun to awaken from its Sleepy Hollow.  Perhaps, well maybe, our country does have a politically linked drug problem.  The United Kingdom print outlet, DAILY MAIL provides these recently released, 2016 statistics.  W. Va had 52 deaths by overdose per 100,000 people making it number one in the opioid sweepstakes.  Even though the state has a Democrat senator in D.C., it is solidly in the red state column. OH, always a key swing state in every major election and having red state creds, now replaces another red state, New Hampshire, for the 2nd spot for death by drugs.  District of Columbia is at number 4 with 38.8 deaths per 100,000, and PA is at 5 with 37.9 opioid deaths per 100,000.

Continued at: http://www.thecoachsteam.com/2018/01/obama-red-states-and-opioid-crisis.html

An interesting observation, something to be aware of but it is probably coincidence.  Most or some of those states don't seem to be strongly red.

[ABX]

They seem to be just playing with statistics. A majority of States are red or leaning red as they point out, so naturally, a wide study like this will show a majority of most things in red or leaning red states.



This is typical of how sensationalistic clickbait news usually works. They take to unrelated facts, try to make a connection, then make a conspiracy with a catchy headline like a fishing lure. To somehow jump to this being an Obama conspiracy against Red States is asinine.

A better correlation to look at is the states with the highest rates of disability payments. The greater the percentage of those on disability, the likelihood they will be on some sort of pain medication. The more on pain medication, the greater chance they are on opioid medications which have this risk.

http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/07/15/states-with-the-most-americans-on-disability-2/

This correlation makes fare more sense than some 'Obama conspiracy'.

[truth_seeker]

The entire nation is now operating under the compassionate "treatment, not incarceration" model.

Obamacare provides gold-plated treatment for everybody. Betty Ford Center cost/quality treatment for street junkies. At taxpayer expense.

My guess is Republicans will not take this very costly policy choice away. We will continue to spend lavishly on drug addicts.

Emergency medical resources carry drugs to bring overdose patients back from near death. Narcan, Naloxone.

Partisan arguments go nowhere.

[jmyrlefuller]

@AbaraXas
As a counterpoint:

Note the cities and how most of the major metro areas have well-below-average rates of disability claims. The highest claims are in the rural South and on Indian reservations. The disability claims are likely a byproduct of lack of work, and turning to scamming the system to maintain enough income to get by. There is a strong correlation: big, liberal-voting cities don't claim disability.

The question I have is what separates a state like Wyoming, which has quite low disability claim rates, from Alabama or Kentucky, where the rates are through the roof?