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The CDC graph shows that in the 12-month period to April 2023 it was 110k, and that reduced to 100k in the 12 months to April 2024. That is absolute - isn't it?
by card_zero 2y ago
The CDC graph shows that in the 12-month period to April 2023 it was 110k, and that reduced to 100k in the 12 months to April 2024. That is absolute - isn't it?
- robertlagrant 2y agoThe context of my comment is that the previous commenter was saying it's to do with the legalisation of marijuana.
- card_zero 2y agoOh, OK. I guess there are different ways to use the word "relative". Certainly a decline when zoomed in can look like part of an increase when zoomed out. But to be clear, this isn't one of those decline-in-the-rate-of-increase deals, which is what "relative" means to me. (Great news everybody! The rate of increase in the increasingly large numbers of deaths is slowing down!)
- manvillej 2y agono. That is relative to 2023. There isn't going to be an absolute decrease because the chart started at 0 and we can't go below 0. only absolute increases (increases that go over historical highs), relative increases (increases that do not go over historical highs), and relative decreases.
- card_zero 2y agoYeah, that thought struck me too, looking at the entire graph there can never be an absolute decrease. But then, which timescale is the salient one?
- robertlagrant 2y agoIn context it would be one that would show that marijuana legalisation was probably the cause.
- card_zero 2y agoIndeed, it's probably not due to marijuana legalisation, unless the resulting decline had a four year lag period for some reason, which I won't attempt to argue.
- throwuxiytayq 2y agoI’d be more surprised if the effect was immediate. Addiction takes years to develop, and years to recover from. I would also expect marijuana legalization to have more impact on (potential) future drug users than people already addicted to opioids.