Opioids rip through U.S. workforce, with deaths at record level
Before the COVID-19 pandemic was the drug epidemic. Its relentless toll added a record 90,722 overdose deaths in the U.S. for the year through November 2020, a grim number obscured by coronavirus casualties that recently topped 600,000, according to federal data released Wednesday.
As the virus transfixed the nation, the drug crisis spread to largely untouched parts of the country — exacerbated by the recession and millions of job losses. Not only stores and restaurants shuttered: Counseling services moved online, inpatient clinics closed and mobile clinics pulled back. Without support, many Americans relapsed and some turned to drugs for the first time.
Before the pandemic, U.S. unemployment hit a half-century low of 3.5%; today, the country is still missing almost 8 million people on payrolls. President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking full employment, but that goal will be daunting as businesses confront a workforce more addicted than ever.
Ronald Armstrong, a 57-year-old recovered heroin user and peer counselor, is noticing new faces when dropping off clean needles around Washington. Along Good Hope Road and in downtown encampments are people who are younger, and many who’ve never bought drugs before.
“When COVID happened, it compounded the situation, and made it more comfortable to say, ‘It’s OK now,’” said Armstrong. “‘Because I ain’t gotta work, ain’t nobody hiring anyway.’ That false reality of, ‘As soon as they open the city up, I’m going to get me a job.’ It’s not going to happen like that.”
Opioids are behind about threefourths of the overdoses, according to Wednesday’s data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Washington was among the deadliest regions, seeing a 50% surge in deaths. Some of the impact is visible, such as the growing clusters of tents downtown where many overdoses occur, a sight so common that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell mentioned them several times this year.
Much of the devastation in the capital and far beyond, though, is seen only by people on the ground like Armstrong, and offers an early warning of cracks in the broader economy.
About six hours southwest of Washington is Bristol, a city of roughly 50,000 people that straddles the border between Tennessee and Virginia. Once benefiting from agriculture, mining and steel, the birthplace of country music now depends on mountain tourism.
Businesses here have grappled with the opioid epidemic for years and the issue is once again rearing its head. At some white-collar companies, only four out of 10 applicants can pass a drug test, with many showing recent opioid use. Other firms have eliminated the tests altogether to get people in the door, said Beth Rhinehart, head of the region’s Chamber of Commerce.
“We hear all the time from folks that you have people who are capable and apply, and when they get to the drugscreen portion, they don’t pass,” said Rhinehart. “It certainly does kick a lot of people out of a lot of jobs.”