The effect of opioid use on traffic fatalities

We use a difference-in-differences design to study the effect of opioid use on traffic fatalities. Following Alpert et al., we focus on the 1996 introduction and marketing of OxyContin, and we examine its long-term impacts on traffic fatalities involving Schedule II drugs or heroin. Based on the nat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health economics 2024-06, Vol.33 (6), p.1123-1132
Main Authors: Beland, Louis-Philippe, Huh, Jason, Kim, Dongwoo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic - mortality
Adult
Analgesics, Opioid
Drug Overdose - mortality
Epidemics
Fatal road accidents
Female
Fentanyl - poisoning
Health economics
Heroin
Heroin - poisoning
Humans
Male
Marketing
Middle Aged
Narcotics
Opioid-Related Disorders - mortality
Opioids
Oxycodone
Public health
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:We use a difference-in-differences design to study the effect of opioid use on traffic fatalities. Following Alpert et al., we focus on the 1996 introduction and marketing of OxyContin, and we examine its long-term impacts on traffic fatalities involving Schedule II drugs or heroin. Based on the national fatal vehicle crash database, we find that the states heavily targeted by the initial marketing of OxyContin (i.e., non-triplicate states) experienced 2.4 times more traffic fatalities (1.6 additional deaths per million individuals) involving Schedule II drugs or heroin during 2011-2019, when overdose deaths from heroin and fentanyl became more prominent. We find no difference in traffic fatalities until after the mid-2000s between states with and without a triplicate prescription program. The effect is mainly concentrated in fatal crashes with drug involvement of drivers ages between 25 and 44. Our results highlight additional long-term detrimental consequences of the introduction and marketing of OxyContin.
ISSN:1057-9230
1099-1050
1099-1050
DOI:10.1002/hec.4817