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Financial Effects of Drug Abuse

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the general public bears more than half the cost of substance abuse in the United States. Substance abusers themselves tend to pass the cost of their problem on to family members, government agencies, law enforcement efforts, health care institutions, social welfare administrators and the victims of their crimes. The majority of substance abusers have jobs, working either full or part time, and their employers bear the cost of substance abuse in reduced productivity.

  1. Health-Care Costs

    • The impact of substance abuse to our country, in the form of health-care costs is staggering. The National Institute on Drug abuse (NIDA) reports that 80 percent of overall health-care expenditures are financed through private or public insurance. As private insurance agencies account for less and less of the cost of substance-abuse services, more and more of these costs fall on the tax-paying public. Indigent health-care costs are also passed on to the tax-paying public, and the costs that insurance companies carry towards substance-abuse treatment leads to higher insurance premiums for all people.

    Premature Death

    • Substance abusers tend to die younger than nonabusers, losing years of potential productivity. This loss is passed on to those who do not abuse drugs and alcohol through the loss of tax dollars to federal, state and local government funds. Family members of drug and alcohol abusers who die young also suffer financial loss because of the absence of the deceased person's income contribution to the family. Many families of deceased substance abusers may also have to depend on social welfare programs for support, another cost to the tax-paying public.

    Impaired Productivity

    • Employers lose millions annually to absenteeism, sick leave, worker's compensation and general nonproductivity caused by substance abuse and related behavior in the workplace. Many of the consequences of substance abuse in the workplace include the loss of productivity because of low morale, depression and the tendency of substance abusers to feel ill, even when they are not drug or alcohol impaired. Such costs are difficult to calculate or measure in dollars and cents.

    Motor-Vehicle Accidents

    • NIDA estimates that the annual loss from vehicle and roadway damage, court and legal costs, and the administration of insurance claims due to substance-abuse related traffic accidents is $13.6 billion. This does not include the medical costs or income loss of those involved. All damage to roads is allocated to state and local governments, funded by tax-payer dollars. According to NIDA, about 90 percent of vehicle-damage cost was funded through private insurance dollars while 10 percent of the cost fell to the victims of the impaired drivers.

    Crime

    • NIDA reports that 25 percent of national law-enforcement expense is directed towards crimes involving substance abuse, as many inmates are known to have substance abuse and addiction-related issues when they enter correctional institutions. Inmates are supported by federal, state and local taxpayers, who also provide for their health care needs. The cost of dealing with these criminals begins long before they enter correctional facilities, including the cost of police investigations and court and legal proceedings, costs that also fall on our nation's tax-paying citizens.

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