Overcoming Overdose: An Analysis on the Efficacy of the First State-Mandated Opioid Restriction Law

Abstract

On March 14, 2016 Massachusetts became the first state to implement a law restricting the supply of opioids administered for initial prescriptions. The opioid crisis has had a devastating effect on the United States’ economy and society. The introduction of OxyContin in 1996 was intended to provide a medication to cure various forms of pain, whether acute or chronic. Unknown to many patients were the adverse side effects of the drug. While the medication is meant to mitigate pain, the addictive and harmful properties of opioids have adversely impacted the United States’ economy through increased opioid-related treatment center and hospital admissions as well as costs due to death and injury. Less calculable costs include the effect of opioids on the labor force through potential lost productivity and a lower labor force participation rate. Numerous initiatives have been implemented to combat this epidemic, most notably Chapter 52, the first state-mandated opioid restriction law enacted in Massachusetts in March of 2016. This paper studies the effect of restricting the supply of opioids through this prescription limit law on the opioid crisis in terms of outcomes such as overdose deaths, prescription rates, unemployment, and substitute illicit drug consumption. The results provide evidence that Chapter 52 had a statistically significant effect in decreasing prescription rates, opioid related fatalities, and the unemployment rate.