Duh? –
March 12, 2019 – States that prescribe more opioids per 100 people tend to have fewer people in their labor force. West Virginia, a state with one of the highest opioid prescription rates in the country in 2015, had the lowest labor force participation rate in 2018 at 54 percent. Alabama, the state with the highest prescription rate, has a participation rate of 57 percent — which is also one of the lowest. In turn, states like Minnesota and Colorado have two of the highest labor-force participation rates along with low opioid prescription levels. (See the chart above to get the participation rates of more states and how it relates to their opioid prescription levels.)
