What is the Cost of Drugs?

When someone brings up the cost of drugs, you may think they are talking about the monetary cost.

The real cost of drugs lies in the number of people they harm and the overall economic burden they cause.

Today, it is estimated that the cost of drugs across the nation is over $740 billion each year.

From increased healthcare costs to increased crime to lost productivity, the cost of drugs affects many aspects of society.

One of the biggest costs of drugs is in the number of lives they take.

In the last twenty years, nearly one million Americans have lost their lives to a drug overdose and that number is only increasing.

Understanding the Cost of Addiction

When talking about the cost of addiction, there are many different drugs that affect our society.

In recent years, one of the costs of addiction that has grown enormously is from opioid misuse.

Almost two-thirds of all overdose deaths in the United States were from opioids.

One of the biggest causes for these deaths was the huge increase in opioid prescriptions being given by doctors in the early 2000s.

This made opioids easier for people to get, easier for them to misuse, and easier for them to get addicted to.

The cost of opioid abuse is estimated to be $78.5 billion each year.

Money is not the only thing that drugs and addiction cost us each year.

The cost of drugs also includes workforce loss, crime, domestic abuse, and the spread of diseases like HIV and hepatitis.

 

The Cost of Drugs on Healthcare & the Workplace

According to The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), the cost of drugs on our healthcare system is more than $11 billion each year.

This includes costs from inpatient drug rehab treatment, medical interventions, addiction prevention, and addiction-related research.

Emergency department costs for addiction issues add up to more than $161 million on their own.

Addiction also costs our workforce money every year.

Each year, addiction costs the United States more than $120 billion each year in lost productivity.

This is caused by the many different aspects of drug addiction that make people miss work.

This includes when people are too ill from drugs to go to work, when their drug use puts them in the hospital or in jail, or when they die from an overdose.

 

The Cost of Drugs on the Criminal Justice System

The cost of drugs also has a major impact on our criminal justice system.

From the cost of arresting these people to the cost of the court system, to the cost of imprisoning them, there are many ways that drug use adds to this cost to the criminal justice system.

The NDIC estimates that the cost of drug-related time in the United States each year is more than $61 billion.

Studies have found that anywhere from 62 to 83 percent of the people arrested each year test positive for at least one illicit drug.

Upwards of 50 percent test positive for more than one drug.

Cocaine and meth are the two most common drugs found in the systems of people who have been arrested.

Heroin use has been found to be very common in people who commit property crimes.

The Cost of Drugs on Health

One of the biggest costs of drug use and addiction is on your health.

People who abuse drugs deal with many negative health effects that require treatment.

Often, these people ignore their health until their conditions are far advanced and need more serious treatment.

People that inject drugs are at a higher risk of getting HIV or hepatitis.

Both of these conditions can cause life-long health problems that require daily medication and frequent doctor visits.

People who experience a health crisis or overdose from drug use need emergency services.

This means we need more ambulances to be able to answer these calls.

Emergency room visits for drug-related health issues have grown considerably in the last twenty years.

Opioid overdoses especially account for a lot of this increase.

These must be treated immediately to save a person’s life, and require a stay in the hospital to make sure that they are out of danger.

The cost of drugs also plays a part in the roads.

Many people who abuse drugs driving under the influence.

This leads to increased accidents on the road, accident-related injuries, and deaths.

Mental Illness and the Cost of Addiction

Another cost of addiction is the toll it takes on peoples’ mental health.

Studies have found that about half of all people with a drug addiction also have a mental health disorder.

It is estimated that less than 40 percent of people with a mental illness seek help.

For people who also have an addiction, that number is even smaller.

Untreated mental health problems add to the problems that drugs create, including lost work productivity, increased healthcare costs, and increased criminal justice costs.

Drug users with a mental health issue have less healthy personal relationships, have a hard time performing at work or school, are more likely to have health issues, and are more likely to be victims of suicide and overdose.

Without treatment, both mental health issues and addiction only get worse.

Managing both of these conditions is the only way to find lasting sobriety and stability, and to lower the cost of addiction.

 

Treatment Options for Drug Addiction

The cost of addiction is much more than the economic ones.

It is also the cost that it has on your health and the quality of your life.

Best Rehabs In Arizona is here to help you with both your addiction and any mental health problems you may be facing.

We offer different levels of care so that we can help get you into a program that is going to work for you.

Our programs include intensive outpatient treatment, partial hospitalization programs, residential treatment, and long-term rehab.

Within these programs, we can tailor your treatment to your needs.

For clients that need to detox, we have medically assisted detox.

This allows us to help make your withdrawal symptoms manageable so that you can detox more comfortably.

Afterward, we can start on your behavioral therapy treatment.

By spending time with a licensed counselor, we are able to help you work through the things in your life that led to your drug use, and give you ways to deal with stress and avoid a relapse.

 

Get the Help You Need to Stop the Cost of Addiction

We know that no one tries drugs with a plan of becoming addicted to them.

Just because you have a drug addiction does not mean you have to live with the consequences for the rest of your life.

At Best Rehabs In Arizona, we know exactly what it takes to get your life back from the difficulty of addiction.

Our premier addiction treatment centers are located in upscale areas throughout the Scottsdale, Arizona area.

Our luxury locations provide you with a comfortable and home-like atmosphere so that our clients feel safe and secure throughout their treatment program.

We help ensure your success by using only scientifically researched, cutting edge, and effective drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs.

We have over 25 years of experience in helping people with addictions and co-occurring disorders to overcome their addictions.

Many of our clients wonder whether or not they will be able to take advantage of their health insurance benefits to help cover their treatment.

That is why we accept most major insurances through our free insurance verification.

Simply give us a call and one of our addiction specialists can check to see how much of your treatment program will be covered by your insurance before you begin treatment.

You can trust us to communicate with your insurance provider to ensure that you receive every benefit that you are entitled to.

Addiction is a difficult thing to deal with both mentally and physically, but there is no reason you have to try and get clean by yourself.

Let us use our years of experience to help you get on the path to a meaningful and lasting recovery.

Contact us today and see the difference we can make by helping you to become healthy once again.