COVID stimulus checks were meant to help, but instead, they contributed to the death of some of the most vulnerable Ohioans.
According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a new study from the Center for the Future of Forensic Science shows spikes in opioid-related overdose deaths in 2020 coincided precisely with the arrival of stimulus checks. In the spring of 2020 more Ohioans died of opioid overdose than they had since the height of the opioid crisis in 2010.
“The link between pandemic relief money and opioid overdose deaths is now evident,” Yost said. “The intent was to help Americans navigate this deadly pandemic, but it also fueled a tidal wave of overdoses.”
The wave of overdose deaths didn’t just hit Ohio. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). From April 2020 to April 2021, more than 100,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses, the most recorded in a 12-month period since the CDC began publicly tracking the opioid epidemic in 1999 and a 28% increase over the 78,056 deaths during the same period the previous year.
The study said the COVID-19 pandemic created a perfect storm for people with opioid addictions adding social isolation, income loss, and lack of access to treatment to their problems.
Putting a lump sum of money into the hands of an active added made it much easier for them to acquire drugs and subsequently overdose.
“Throwing money at a problem isn’t always the best solution,” Yost said. “Let the data be the guide to learn from the past. Addiction is a sickness you can’t cure with just cash.”