4 ms·

""drug overdose" which is not categorized as a homicide but very well should be" An abrupt 'rise in homicide' caused by changing the definition will just under

• shuckles 4y ago
  Dealing with statistical discontinuities with reporting is kind of unrelated to whether the existing definitions properly represent the territory they claim to map. Changing definitions can make the new data seem unreliable, but bad definitions make the data actually unreliable. Those are different kinds of problems.
  • harvey9 4y ago
    Unless the law changes to make drug companies culpable in this situation (which is my interpretation of the post I replied to) then as things stand the definition does indeed represent the territory.
    • shuckles 4y ago
      I’m not sure what you’re getting at, but pharmaceutical opioids haven’t been a big source of problem for at least a decade at this point.
• coldtea 4y ago
  That has historically been a motivation for organizations, governments, etc, to DO such a change, rather than to avoid it...