Why a Study on Opioids Ignited a Twitter Firestorm

With the opioid epidemic claiming more than 100 lives a day in the United States, every state now has some sort of law expanding access to naloxone, also known as Narcan. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that makes someone who has overdosed start breathing again. Sometimes, its powers are said to bring an overdose victim “back to life.” That led two economists to wonder, does the prospect of not dying from opioids make people more likely to use opioids? And are they more likely to, ultimately, die as a result?

The two researchers—Jennifer Doleac, of the University of Virginia, and Anita Mukherjee, of the University of Wisconsin—looked at the time period before and after different naloxone-access laws were put into place, such as providing legal immunity to people who prescribed or administered the drug and allowing anyone to buy naloxone in a pharmacy without a prescription.

After naloxone-access laws take effect, they , arrests related to the possession