Fact-check · Aug 21, 2026 · JD Vance
“Economists have measured the ways in which the opioid crisis exploded in the very locations where jobs were shipped overseas”
TRUE
What the record shows
Peer-reviewed study (Dean & Kimmel, 2019) found trade-related job losses associated with 2.7% increase in opioid deaths per 1,000 jobs lost; 11.3% when fentanyl present. Study used CDC and DOL county-level data, 1999–2015.
Sources
- Employment Reductions and Government Revenue Losses from Opioid Misuse | Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction
- Free trade and opioid overdose death in the United States - ScienceDirect
- The economic underpinnings of the drug epidemic - ScienceDirect
- NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES ECONOMIC STUDIES ON THE OPIOID CRISIS: A REVIEW
- The economic impact of the opioid epidemic
- THE ROLE OF THE WORKFORCE SYSTEM IN ADDRESSING THE OPIOID CRISIS:
From: Vice President JD Vance Delivers Remarks in Middletown, OH
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