The Economic Cost Of The Opioid Crisis

New research out Wednesday puts a dollar value on how much the opioid epidemic is costing the Massachusetts economy.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates the state loses more than $2.5 billion a year in business productivity, and an additional $5.9 billion to people who couldn't work because of opioid addiction.

The study found that almost 33,000 people could not work in the last seven years because of addiction — which is a major problem when the job market is tight.

Julie Burns, executive director of RIZE Massachusetts.

J.J. Bartlett, president of Fishing Partnership Support Services. He tweets @jbart727.