1/The public has been fed a set of serial lies about the negative effect of so-called "lockdowns" vs. the real negatives of out-of-control transmission of a BSL-3 vascular superpathogen Those lies include a. The substance abuse spike during the pandemic was due to lockdowns2/b. Children would commit self-harm if not sent back to mandatory in-person schooling c. Children would suffer irreversible "learning loss" if not sent back to mandatory in-person schooling These harms were caused by "lockdowns" None of it is true3/The harms are caused by the virus and an incompetent public health response Not "lockdowns" @tylerblack32 @Loretta_Torrago @arijitchakrav have brilliantly tackled the latter two (pediatric suicide and learning loss) I will tackle the myth of lockdown-caused substance abuse4/Exhibit A This is the percent change in accidental death from drug/alcohol poisoning relative to a 2013-2019 baseline My model accounts for the rapid rise in drug/alcohol overdose deaths in 2013-2019 period These percentages reflect increases above/below the expected trend5/Exhibit B This is the change in federal alcohol excise taxes collected relative to a 2013-2019 average Notice how well it fits with deaths from drug/alcohol poisoning Meaning the phenomena is not related to the opioid epidemic6/Exhibit C If we overlay those last two charts it is very clear there is a strong correlation between federal alcohol excise tax collections and deaths from drug/alcohol poisoning7/What is there NOT a strong correlation between? "Lockdowns" and either deaths from drug/alcohol poisoning or federal alcohol excise tax receipts Both were at their lowest pandemic point in 2020 The year of lockdowns Closed beaches Closed restaurants Closed schools8/The ONLY time we saw a sustained drop in deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning was the period between summer of 2020 and January of 2021 In December of 2020 the CDC issued a press release saying the last 12 months saw record drug overdoses What they didn't say...9/Was December 2020 was the nadir of pandemic drug/alcohol deaths They never released a subsequent press release saying "As restrictions have been lifted, we have seen a sharp rise in deaths from drug and alcohol deaths, correlating with a sharp rise in alcohol consumption"10/This is an example of how you weaponize data to hide a pandemic The individuals responsible for emphasizing false and untrue connections between mitigations designed to limit the transmission of a BSL-3 vascular super-pathogen -- a/k/a "lockdowns" -- have blood on their hands11/@arijitchakrav and I are exploring a series called "How to Hide A Pandemic" This is a taste of what's to come @DrEricDing @mehdirhasan

1/The public has been fed a set of serial lies about the negative effect of so-called "lockdowns" vs. the real negatives of out-of-control transmission of a BSL-3 vascular superpathogen Those lies include a. The substance abuse spike during the pandemic was due to lockdowns ... 2/b. Children would commit self-harm if not sent back to mandatory in-person schooling c. Children would suffer irreversible "learning loss" if not sent back to mandatory in-person schooling These harms were caused by "lockdowns" None of it is true ... 3/The harms are caused by the virus and an incompetent public health response Not "lockdowns" @tylerblack32 @Loretta_Torrago @arijitchakrav have brilliantly tackled the latter two (pediatric suicide and learning loss) I will tackle the myth of lockdown-caused substance abuse ... 4/Exhibit A This is the percent change in accidental death from drug/alcohol poisoning relative to a 2013-2019 baseline My model accounts for the rapid rise in drug/alcohol overdose deaths in 2013-2019 period These percentages reflect increases above/below the expected trend ... 5/Exhibit B This is the change in federal alcohol excise taxes collected relative to a 2013-2019 average Notice how well it fits with deaths from drug/alcohol poisoning Meaning the phenomena is not related to the opioid epidemic ... 6/Exhibit C If we overlay those last two charts it is very clear there is a strong correlation between federal alcohol excise tax collections and deaths from drug/alcohol poisoning ... 7/What is there NOT a strong correlation between? "Lockdowns" and either deaths from drug/alcohol poisoning or federal alcohol excise tax receipts Both were at their lowest pandemic point in 2020 The year of lockdowns Closed beaches Closed restaurants Closed schools ... 8/The ONLY time we saw a sustained drop in deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning was the period between summer of 2020 and January of 2021 In December of 2020 the CDC issued a press release saying the last 12 months saw record drug overdoses What they didn't say... ... 9/Was December 2020 was the nadir of pandemic drug/alcohol deaths They never released a subsequent press release saying "As restrictions have been lifted, we have seen a sharp rise in deaths from drug and alcohol deaths, correlating with a sharp rise in alcohol consumption" ... 10/This is an example of how you weaponize data to hide a pandemic The individuals responsible for emphasizing false and untrue connections between mitigations designed to limit the transmission of a BSL-3 vascular super-pathogen -- a/k/a "lockdowns" -- have blood on their hands ... 11/@arijitchakrav and I are exploring a series called "How to Hide A Pandemic" This is a taste of what's to come @DrEricDing @mehdirhasan