Are Stimulus Checks to Blame for Additional Drug Overdoses? The founder of a pair of recovery programs in West Virginia told TV station WVNS that he saw a connection between the arrival of the stimulus and a recent uptick in drug overdoses in Southern West Virginia. The arrival of stimulus checks from the American Rescue Plan has been connected with all sorts of societal phenomena, from a lack of interest in fast food job openings to the potential for rising inflation. Now, there’s an idea out there that the arrival of stimulus has had another effect: That it’s causing addicts to relapse.