In 2013, 37,542 people in the United States died from a drug overdose (Drugabuse.gov n.p.). While some of these were purposeful overdoses, many were not. This illustrates a problem we have had in our country for a long time, and have made little head way in improving. If anything, the issue has gotten worse as the abuse of pharmaceuticals has become a major issue. Almost any one of us could be asked, and be able to tell about a personal experience with someone suffering from drug addiction. The abuse of drugs is a prevalent issue in our society and it is important we understand the costs to our families, our society, and the individual drug users in order to address the issue.
The cost to families every year is enormous. One cost applies specifically to families of meth abusers, especially children. Meth abusers will go on binges for several days and then crash, leaving their children to fend for themselves (FRONTLINE n.p.). Also, should the meth abusers also be cooking their own meth at home, their families are exposed to noxious chemicals and the possibility of the home exploding (FRONTLINE n.p.). While these costs apply specifically to meth, there are universal costs that all families of drug abusers deal with. These include being lied to, stolen from, dealing with the addict easily losing focus and abandoning responsibilities and more (Easyread.drugabuse.gov n.p.). Not only that, abused children are 40-80 percent more likely to come from a home with substance abuse in it (Nccafv.org n.p.). Over 8 million children live with substance abusers (Nccafv.org n.p.). A child in a home with a parent who abuses alcohol or drugs is three times more likely to be abused and over four times more likely to suffer from neglect than children who come from homes that do not abuse drugs (Nccafv.org n.p.). Another major issue is that of the cycle of addiction; children of alcoholics and drug abusers are more likely to grow into alcoholics as adults (Nccafv.org n.p.). Subsequently, these addicted children have issues in school, high rates of pregnancy, mental and emotional issues; not to mention, they continue the cycle by passing the issues onto their children (Nccafv.org n.p.). As this information suggests, families pay a high cost when one of their members suffers from alcoholism or addiction; it is a much higher cost than the drugs are worth.
Although families pay a lot to have a drug abusing member, the drug abusers themselves pay a high cost for their habit. Addiction is often associated with poverty; this is because people may use as a form of escapism, or they may financially ruin themselves while using drugs (Bosari n.p.). Either way, the drug abuser often condemns themselves to a life of poverty as a result of their choice. Also, a drug abuser is more likely to be estranged from their family, or to have their spouse seek a divorce (Bosari n.p.). Many drug abusers end up homeless as they use all of their funds to support their habit (Bosari n.p.). The longer a drug abuser uses, generally the higher amount they pay to support their habit. This can be easily illustrated with cigarettes. People often start off smoking a pack every few days, but end up smoking a pack a day before long. Considering cigarettes are about $5 a pack, a $10 a week habit can quickly become a $35 a week habit. Imagine this same principal applied to more expensive drugs such as cocaine or heroin. Drug abusers oftentimes will not pay bills in order to find money to pay for drugs; this leads them to the added stress of dealing with bill collectors, foreclosures and repossessions (Bosari n.p.). As drug abusers slowly lose items which they care about, they justify their abuse more, and sink deeper into addiction. Many times it takes an addict losing everything and ending up homeless or incarcerated before they finally realize they need to make a change (Bosari n.p.).
Just as there is a cost to families of drug abusers and the drug abuser themselves, drug abuse exacts a cost on society as well. Drug and alcohol abuse incurs costs of incarceration, medical costs and the cost of lost productivity (Drugabuse.gov- Cost n.p.). It is estimated that illegal drugs have an economic societal cost of $181 billion per year, alcohol costs $185 billion per year and tobacco costs $193 billion per year (Drugabuse.gov- Cost n.p.). This leads to a total cost of $559 billion per year to cover the various forms of drug abuse (Drugabuse.gov- Cost n.p.). Although drug abuse treatment is less expensive than the alternatives, it still exacts a cost from society. For example, one year of methadone maintenance costs approximately $4,700, versus the cost of incarceration which is approximately $24,000 per year (Drugabuse.gov, n.p.). While the cost of methadone maintenance is about five times less than incarceration, the cost still adds up considering the number of addicts in the United States. There has been an explosion of prescription drug abuse in recent history. This causes unique costs in the form of higher insurance premiums and costing Medicare for fraudulent medication needs (O'Toole n.p.). Someone who doctor shops and gets multiple prescriptions from different doctors can cost an insurance company between $10,000-15,000 per year; of course these costs are passed on to all consumers in the form of higher premiums (O'Toole n.p).
While these are the monetary costs to society, there are also non-monetary costs. Unborn children can be affected by a drug abusing mother; for example, a child born with fetal alcohol syndrome may require a lifetime of care that society pays for (T n.p.). STD’s such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C are more prevalent among drug users because of they are likely to share needles and not use proper protection sexually, as well as have more sexual partners (T n.p.). While these do have monetary costs, they have much deeper societal costs as they affect so many people on a more emotional level.
Drugs are an insidious epidemic which has not been dealt with sufficiently. This is a shame, since the cost for everyone is so high and rehabilitation costs are so low. The cost to society is billions per year that could be better used for more productive activities. Insurance companies pass on higher premiums due to prescription drug abuse, costing us even more. While the societal cost is high, the cost to families and the individual is also high. Families have to deal with higher levels of abuse, loss of wages, generational addictions and more. The drug addict themselves is more likely to be divorced or homeless. They trade stability for addiction, and lose as a result. The reality is that there are no winners when it comes drug abuse and all of us bear the cost.
References
Bosari, Jessica. 'The Cost Of Addiction On Families'. Forbes. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 July 2015.
Drugabuse.gov,. 'Overdose Death Rates | National Institute On Drug Abuse (NIDA)'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 July 2015.
Drugabuse.gov- Cost,. 'Drug Abuse Costs The United States Economy Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars In Increased Health Care Costs, Crime, And Lost Productivity. | National Institute On Drug Abuse (NIDA)'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 July 2015.
Easyread.drugabuse.gov,. 'Drug Abuse Hurts Families'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 July 2015.
FRONTLINE,. 'Frequently Asked Questions - The Meth Epidemic'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 July 2015.
O'Toole, James. 'How Prescription Drug Abuse Costs You Money'. CNNMoney. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 July 2015.
T, Buddy. 'What Are The Costs Of Drug Abuse To Society?'. About.com Health. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 July 2015.
