Political Ads in 25 States Focus on Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic is emerging as an important issue in this fall’s midterm campaigns, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Political ads in 25 states mention opioids, compared with just one state—Kentucky—in 2014. So far this year, ads containing opioid messaging have aired in congressional and gubernatorial races more than 50,000 times, the article notes. The ads come from candidates in both parties. Opioid-related ads still lag behind those focused on immigration and gun control.

The number of ads do not always correspond with the overdose rate in each state, according to the newspaper’s analysis. For example, many opioid-related ads are running in Florida, which has a lower rate of overdose deaths than many other states. Many opioid-related ads are also running in Wisconsin, Missouri and Pennsylvania, which are not among the states hardest hit by the epidemic. But each of those states has seen an increase in opioid overdoses of more than 50 percent between 2012 and 2016.