By ERIC EYRE
Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The opioid epidemic is costing Boone County’s economy an estimated $206.5 million a year — the highest per-capita burden of any county in America, according to a new report by the American Enterprise Institute.
It’s a staggering cost for a county with 23,645 people in rural Southern West Virginia, a region also struggling with the loss of coal jobs. Boone County’s opioid-related economic cost comes out to $8,734 per person, the AEI study found.
“Quite honestly, I’m surprised that we’re No. 1,” said Kris Mitchell, director of the Boone County Community and Economic Development Corp. “There’s certainly places that struggle as much or more than we do. A lot of the focus seems to be on our problem here, and there’s no denying the state has a problem with opioids, but it’s really a national problem.”
Read the entire article: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/health/wv_drug_abuse/report-boone-county-leads-us-in-per-capita-opioid-related/article_ebca6051-eb47-5a22-b566-8929b4ad7d9c.html
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