This study is halfway good, and halfway bad.
To start with, they might have good statistics, but good statistics often lead to bad assumptions. Statistics are only a starting point. Then the sociologists take over to interview people to discover why the statistics are the way they are.
This study reminded me of the finding that Arizona ranked 11th in the US for “gun homicides”. This was used to disparage gun liberty in AZ. But by itself that statistic was deceptive, because 70% of those “homicides” were in fact suicides. Adjusting for them and the AZ rate was about dead last.
So let’s examine the three mortality causes they mentioned.
Drug overdose. Lots of opioid street drugs are now being tainted with Fentanyl and its analogs. These are from 100 to 100,000 times more powerful than pure morphine. Heroin addicts can survive for decades while taking ordinary heroin. But introduce these dangerous synthetics and they are playing Russian roulette. Two identical portions of heroin, yet one of them is hundreds or thousands of times stronger than the other.
Bottom line: drug overdoses are exploding in number around the entire US. Naloxone, which can block the effects of normal amounts of opiates for a short time is being issued to all emergency services by the gross. It might take dozens of doses to pull someone through an overdose, or they die.
So this group is not “deaths of despair”, but poisoning. Murder.
Next up is suicide. The most common mental illness is depression. It has been linked in many ways to ADHD, for which many children have been given drugs, starting in the 1960, and steadily growing in their use. The long term consequences of this drug use may have a major impact on mortality.
At the same time, the male suicide rate jumps on retirement. This alone might skew the statistics.
The third cause is alcohol abuse.
Except for alcohol poisoning, this one is kind of a puzzler. This is because alcohol can kill not just acutely, but chronically, causing all sorts of health problems. But attributing these to alcohol is often difficult, because it is a contributing, not primary factor.
I've come to the conclusion that alcohol IS a primary factor, not just contributory.
No, I'm not a 'scientist,' but given the track record of many who call themselves scientists these days, maybe my layman's opinion is just as good. I'm also not a killjoy.
However I believe consumption of alcohol, even in 'moderate' amounts, is likely responsible for at least half of the occurrences of cancer in the US. It is also likely to blame for more misery, both physical and emotional, than any other substance we consume. Opioids are becoming almost as destructive, but alcohol is still king of the death chemicals.