Economical Effects of Drug Addiction

Drug abuse has economic effects in two categories. One is the cost to the public and society as a whole. This category has documented costs that the government and its agencies put to paper. The other category is the effect on the addicted individual and his family and friends. No one can say for certain what those costs may actually be.

Basics

• Based on information provided to President Obama's transition team by the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, half a trillion dollars each year is spent on health-care costs, costs related to crime and loss of productivity.
  Institute Director Dr. Nora Volkow related that 25 percent of each Medicare dollar and nearly 20 percent of each Medicaid dollar are spent on drug addiction-related illnesses or conditions. The costs of drug addiction in the United States is twice that of the costs of any other brain-affecting disease.

Considerations

• Beyond the health-care related costs of drug addiction are the crime-related costs. Since 1985, the National Institute of Drug Abuse states that drug offenders account for 80 percent of the state prison population growth since 1985.
  Nearly three-quarters of those incarcerated have used drugs regularly in their lives.

Personal

• In many situations, drug addicts are unable to find or keep regular employment, which means the addict must either find another way to pay for her habit or will be dependent on others, such as friends or family members to help her financially.
  If the drug addict has a family of his own, he may have to seek public assistance just to pay for shelter and food.
  At this point, the drug addict has not only affected herself and those who care about her, but she has ceased being an economically productive member of society and instead may begin to tap into any and all public and community assistance programs available.

Prevention/Solution

• In order to stem both the economic impact of drug addiction and to treat a physiological health condition, the National Institute on Drug Abuse advocates that addiction, like many other chronic diseases, can be prevented and successfully treated.
  Prevention of drug addiction is important to the future of the economy and the could-be addict. Dr. Volkow relates that every $1 spent on prevention saves $7 in health-care and criminal justice costs.
  Treatment for those addicted is also of vital importance. Again, citing the cost savings, Dr. Volkow states that for every $1 spent on treatment there is a $4 to $7 savings in criminal justice costs, a $3 to $5 savings in emergency care, among female addicts a $4 savings in public assistance costs, and among male addicts a $7 increase in productivity.

Expert Insight

• While the cost of preventing and treating drug addiction is high, doing nothing will only further the negative economic impact drug addiction has on society as a whole and on individual addicted people.