Washington, D.C., and West Virginia have felt the biggest economic burden of the opioid epidemic, according to an analysis from the right-leaning think tank American Enterprise Institute.
Federal data estimates that in 2015, the economic burden from the epidemic was $504 billion in 2015. The think tank looked into where those costs were incurred, and found that West Virginia had the highest per person total cost of the epidemic at $4,378. The District of Columbia came in second at $3,657.
Those costs were the total sum of healthcare, productivity loss and criminal justice costs for a locality.
New Hampshire came in third at $3,640, and was followed by Ohio at $3,385, and Maryland at $3,337, the analysis found. Nebraska had the lowest per person total cost at $394.
The analysis comes as lawmakers seek to add $6 billion to a two-year spending bill called an omnibus to fight the epidemic that killed 64,000 people in 2016. A majority of the money is expected to go towards expanding treatment options.
President Trump revealed a plan to tackle the crisis on Monday that included stiffening penalties for drug dealers and anti-opioid ads on TV.
