The Increasing Costs of Drug and Alcohol Use

Estimates on the overall cost of drug abuse alone, from 1992 to 1998, according to a report from the Office of national Drug Control Policy, “The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the U.S.”, increased 5.9 percent annually, from $102.2 billion in 1992 to $143.4 billion in 1998. A projection for the year 2000 was $160.7 billion. Included in the 2000 projections, some 69 percent of the costs ($110.5 billion) were due to productivity losses, up from $69.4 billion in 1992. Health care costs of $14.9 billion, or 9 percent, increased from the 1992 cost of $10.8 billion. Other costs, or 22 percent, accounted for $35.3 billion, an increase from the 1992 levels of $21.9 billion. Included in other costs are criminal justice system costs, those related to reducing the supply of drugs and social welfare costs. An additional $100.0 billion was projected for the year 2000 in crime-related costs (up from $60.8 billion in 1992).

Statistics from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicate that alcohol abuse costs the U.S. an estimated $185 billion annually. Some 14 percent of the total, about $26 billion, is direct medical cost for treatment, while half -- $88 billion – is due to lost productivity. Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse cost the U.S. an estimated $220 billion in 2005. Underage drinking costs the U.S. nearly $53 billion annually.

Half of trauma patients in hospital emergency rooms are there because of injury after drinking. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that there are 17,000 alcohol-related fatalities annually in the past three years. Another statistic cited that drunk driving alone accounts for $6 billion worth of motor vehicle accidents but causes a third of car crash deaths.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that the total overall cost of substance abuse in the U.S. exceeds half a trillion dollars annually. The burden to society from these costs is enormous. These numbers include $181 billion for illicit drugs, $168 billion for tobacco, and $185 billion for alcohol. But the numbers don’t begin to tell the whole story. When you consider the effects on public health and safety, loss of jobs, disintegration of family, domestic violence, child abuse, and other crimes, the overall costs reach far beyond estimates and projections. They affect every person living in the United States today – whether that person is your family member, your neighbor, co-worker or another driver on the roads.

If the above statistics are any indication, the economic and societal costs of drug and alcohol abuse in the U.S. will continue to rise. Targeted programs to increase public awareness of the dangers of alcohol and drugs, new treatment options, prevention and other means of assistance, however, are beginning to show results. This offers hope for the future.

 

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