The Dispute Index

Jonathan P. Caulkins

Portrait of Jonathan P. Caulkins

Jonathan P. Caulkins is a Carnegie Mellon University researcher in operations research and public policy who studies drug policy.

Also known as Jonathan CaulkinsWebsite (opens in a new tab)

What DI has documented

DI has documented statements by Jonathan P. Caulkins on Drug Policy, Immigration Policy, and Public Health. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

Statements by Jonathan P. Caulkins

Portrait of Jonathan P. Caulkins

Jonathan P. Caulkins

Role at the time: Professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, in an email interview with PolitiFact

Challenged the characterization

Response to this claim

Maine’s decrease in overdose deaths in 2025 and 2026 occurred because the Trump administration sealed the border.

“We did not literally seal the borders (to fentanyl)” “Obviously some is still getting in; otherwise deaths would be zero.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Maine drug overdoses are down. Is Vance right that Trump’s border policies are the cause?Expert interviews and ruling
Why we used this label

The statement directly challenges the factual premise used in Vance’s causal attribution.

Read statementDid border policy cause Maine’s overdose deaths to fall?

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.