Alcohol and Drug Addiction Costs Nearly Equal to the Federal Budget Deficit

PR Web reports (31 May 2005) that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has stated that the total cost of alcohol and drug addiction to society was estimated at $500 billion, which is more than the gross domestic product of over 200 countries in the world. The overall costs to society include categories such as emergency medial care, crime, corrections, law enforcement, lost productivity, research, treatment and prevention. A publication from the Office of National Drug Control Policy examining costs of drug abuse from 1992 to 2002 stated that one of the largest percentages of increase in spending was for treatment research. The amount of money allocated more than doubled in a ten year period. Much of the research in the last decade has been focused on the areas of co-occurring disorders and other brain chemical theories, yet the problem seems to have gotten worse in many areas. Find the full story here.