美国国家公共电台 NPR The Powerful Pull Of Opioids Leaves Many 'Missing' From U.S. Workforce

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

All right, let's talk about the estimated one and a half million unemployed¹ Americans who have stopped looking for jobs, even though there are plenty available. This week, NPR's Yuki Noguchi has been asking how much the opioid epidemic² contributes to that. She's looking at the drug's impact on Muncie, Ind.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE³: Jonathan Guffey has chiseled⁴, youthful looks and, at 32, does not have the haggard bearing of someone who's spent more than half his life hooked on opioids. That stint⁵ with the drug started at 15 and ended, he says, for good, 22 months ago. He now works in construction, but his work history is pockmarked by addiction⁷.

JONATHAN GUFFEY: I've worked in a couple factories for a short amount of time, probably just long enough to get the first check to get high off of.

NOGUCHI: I meet Guffey at Road to Redemption, a free weekly dinner and support meeting in Muncie for people in recovery. He says his habit was enabled by other users - family, friends, even a boss at a factory where he once worked.

GUFFEY: And there was plenty times when I wouldn't go to work there, and my boss would call me. And he wouldn't even say anything about work. He would just want more opiates, pills or whatever it was that I could get at the time.

NOGUCHI: Those with opioid addictions⁸ tell strikingly similar stories, where work takes a back seat to an intensifying⁹ compulsion to use. They're sleepy on them and horribly sick when they aren't. They say the physical impact is worse than with other drugs. Those I interviewed describe a deepening alienation¹⁰ that ultimately includes both family and work. Most say they eventually supported themselves by dealing¹¹ drugs. Opioid use is less common and, in the aggregate¹², less lethal¹³ than alcohol. But the data show opioids effect users' work life more.

The National Safety Council and the Nork Research group at the University of Chicago show opioid users miss twice as many days of work than those with alcohol or other drug addictions. Princeton economist¹⁴ Alan Krueger released a study this week linking about 20 percent of recent declines in labor¹⁵-force participation¹⁶ to opioids. His earlier research showed nearly half of prime-aged men absent from the labor force used pain medication, mostly opioids.

Melissa Wallace's ex-husband and three children all wrestle¹⁷ with various addictions. She also owns a small cleaning business that hires some people in recovery.

MELISSA WALLACE: Oftentimes, they relapse. So there's reliability¹⁸. Are they going to show up?

NOGUCHI: Wallace, who works for a Road to Redemption, says opioids strike the rich, the poor and the promising¹⁹.

WALLACE: I know a lot of my kids' friends have fallen into that trap, in and out of jail - kids that if you would've told me 10 years ago would have ended up in jail, I would have just been like, no way.

NOGUCHI: She's referring to people like Kathryn Sexton, a tall, attractive 23-year-old from an upper-middle class family, whose perfect high school grades landed her a full-ride college scholarship.

KATHRYN SEXTON: And that's where I met heroin²⁰.

NOGUCHI: She dropped out of college. She says among her circle of a dozen high school friends, seven are dead of overdoses or drug-related car accidents and medical crises. Sexton sobered up a month ago, only to confront a felony possession charge that might cost her her nursing assistant's license²¹, the only thing remaining of her career plan. It might also mean she won't be able to go back to school.

SEXTON: If these charges stick, I will not be able to get any federal loans because they don't give them to felons²².

NOGUCHI: It's not just the addicted²³ whose careers suffer. I meet Roger and Katiena Johnson in front of their house. The lawn is strewn with toys, evidence they've been thrust back into parenting their two grandchildren. Their 26-year-old daughter Destini went to jail on drug charges but once worked at the same company as her father.

ROGER JOHNSON: She's worked with me twice.

KATIENA JOHNSON: She worked there when she was 16.

R. JOHNSON: Yeah, when she was 16 years old and going to school. So I mean, you know, once this drug gets a hold of you, it's - it brings you down.

NOGUCHI: Katiena Johnson says she missed work driving Destini to rehab, to doctors and her own plans are on hold.

K. JOHNSON: No, I mean, once you raise your kids, you're wanting to, you know, retire or something, you know. We went ahead and took on our grandkids, in which - we love them.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Hey.

K. JOHNSON: But this is my daughter.

R. JOHNSON: This is Destini.

K. JOHNSON: She - did you get out of jail?

DESTINI JOHNSON: Yes.

R. JOHNSON: She's right here.

K. JOHNSON: I love you.

R. JOHNSON: Sixty days.

NOGUCHI: Destini Johnson's homecoming is unexpected. Jail overcrowding, she says, led to her early release. Her mother, who works the overnight shift at a children's home, looks both happy and worried. Destini wasn't given a shot to control her opioid cravings. Once again, her mom rethinks her work plans.

K. JOHNSON: Kind of makes me even want to try to stay home tonight just to make sure she doesn't use.

NOGUCHI: Destini says she wants a good job. In the past, she says, addiction got her hooked on making the quick buck²⁴.

D. JOHNSON: I'd rather go and trick. I don't know if you know what that is but, you know, have sex for money to get my drugs because it was a lot faster and easier. You have to wait a whole week for a paycheck. No addict⁶ wants to wait that long to get their drugs.

NOGUCHI: Mom urges her daughter to take it slowly, focusing on recovery before applying for jobs. Rejection²⁵, she worries, might lead back to the drugs. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Muncie, Ind.

1 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 chiseled   

adj.凿刻的，轮廓分明的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠，用了他的书，却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
• He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句

5 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

6 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 addictions   

瘾( addiction的名词复数 )； 吸毒成瘾； 沉溺； 癖好

参考例句：

• He has removed the stigma of drug addictions. 他已经洗去吸毒的污点了。
• Intelligent people are good at using reason to control excessive addictions. 智慧的人善于用理性来控制过度的嗜欲。

9 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

10 alienation   

n.疏远；离间；异化

参考例句：

• The new policy resulted in the alienation of many voters.新政策导致许多选民疏远了。
• As almost every conceivable contact between human beings gets automated,the alienation index goes up.随着人与人之间几乎一切能想到的接触方式的自动化，感情疏远指数在不断上升。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

13 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

14 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

16 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

17 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

18 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

19 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

20 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

21 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

22 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网

23 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

24 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

25 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。