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The Hidden Costs of Addiction and Substance Abuse

Drug abuse costs more than what a person pays a dealer. 

There are the emotional and relationship costs an addict, their friends, and their family experience. Beyond that, there are also other financial burdens when the addiction recovery process doesn’t begin. 

As we mentioned in this blog, there is a heavy cost of drug and alcohol abuse in the United States. In the U.S. alone, there is a cost of more than $800 billion each year. This figure comes from more than the cost of the drug; it includes lost productivity, crime, and healthcare costs. 

Addiction’s Impact on the Workplace

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), drug abuse ends up costing the U.S. more than $120 billion each and every year due to lost productivity. Officials included lower participation, incarceration, early death, hospitalization, and treatment facility time (still time away from the workplace) as part of the data. Getting down to the numbers, drug abuse leads to loss of:

  • $4 billion due to early death
  • $48 billion in incarceration costs
  • $49 billion in fewer workdays

Addition’s Impact on the Criminal Justice System

The NDIC also has figures that relate to the criminal justice system. Drug-related crime costs the U.S. more than $61 billion annually, $56 billion of which comes from the criminal justice system. The drugs found to be contributing factors in crimes are crack cocaine and methamphetamine. 

Additionally, most arrested people in the U.S. test positive for illegal drugs. According to the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM II), between 63 percent and 83 percent of arrested individuals test positive. 

Addition’s Impact on the Healthcare System

The figures for the impact on the healthcare system that drug abuse has are also incredibly large. NDIC reports that U.S. healthcare costs with drug connections are over $11 billion. This amount includes medical intervention, inpatient drug treatment, prevention, and treatment research. The annual costs of drug abuse-related emergency department visits is set at $161 million.

Substance Abuse Treatment Offers a Healthy Way Out

Your life doesn’t have to include drugs. Instead of spending money to treat all the results of your addiction, you could be working on recovery. For every $4 spent on reactive treatment, you could instead only spend $1 on substance abuse treatment. You could save yourself, your family, your friends, and the country money by doing something good for yourself. 

You don’t have to do it alone.

Living with people who understand your struggle and have experience in fighting it can support you. Here at the Harmony Haus Sober Living home, we are here to help. We are a group of men in recovery ready to help others on their own path.