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Addiction Carries Many Costs, Substance Abuse Treatment Can Help

The butterfly effect or the Chaos Theory holds that a small change has large effects somewhere far away. There are many costs extending beyond a direct action. Drug and alcohol abuse in the U.S. alone ends up costing more than $800 billion each year.

In this post, we’ll look at the cost of drugs and our recovery suggestion to combat these costs.

The Direct Costs of Drugs that Have Been Abused

  • Cost of Tobacco: $320+ Billion – the direct medical cost of smoking is at $170 billion. The figure for lost productivity is over $156 billion due to the effects of second smoke.
  • Cost of Alcohol Abuse: $249 Billion – Binge drinking costs $191 billion for excessive alcohol consumed. Some significant factors include lost of productivity at work 77%, medical expenses 11%, legal expenses 10%, healthcare expenses 5%.
  • Cost of Illegal Drug Abuse: $193 Billion
  • Cost of Prescription Drug Abuse: $78.5 Billion

The first two groups are legal substances for adults who are of age (18 for tobacco products, 21 for alcohol). These are also the most expensive groups. It is important to realize that abuse and addiction can happen with legal substances. Remember, addiction doesn’t care about the law. According to Medical News Today, “Addiction is a psychological and physical inability to stop consuming a chemical, drug, activity, or substance, even though it is causing psychological and physical harm.”

Average Cost of Illegal Drugs on the Street

  • Cocaine: $129 per gram
  • Marijuana (where it is illegal): $17 per gram
  • Heroin: a dose is about $10 – $25
  • OxyContin (opioid): $5 – $10 per 10mg tablet
  • Meth: $25 – $80 for a quarter of a gram ~ just about one dose

Each of these figures is based on averages. Keep in mind that these are the basic prices for one dose of the substance. When a person abuses a substance, they typically will take much more than one dose and repeat that behavior several times per week or month.

Figures according to VeryWellMind and International Business Times.

Recovery Clinics Can Help with Addiction or Substance Abuse Treatments

If you struggle with addiction or substance abuse, there are options for you. There are many treatment paths for you to choose from on your path to recovery. One of the biggest factors in successful recovery is having a stable support system. You don’t have to do it alone, and places like the Harmony Haus Sober Living facility makes share support easy. We offer a clean, sober environment for men taking a step toward recovery.

Give our caring team at Harmony Haus a call today at (512) 387-2978 to schedule a walking tour.