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Key Question #8
What Are the Costs to Society of Untreated Addiction?

The costs to society of drug and alcohol addiction – in lives and resources – are staggering. The costs to society of drug and alcohol addiction in lives and resources are staggering.  In 2005, more than 35 million Americans had used illegal drugs in the past year.  In the same year nearly 7 million suffered from drug dependence or abuse, and over 18 million Americans suffered from alcohol abuse or dependence¹ Since the early 1980s, drug-related deaths have more than doubled. Drug and alcohol addiction and misuse account for more deaths, illness and disabilities than any other preventable condition.²

Drug and alcohol problems, including tobacco, cost our Nation more than half a trillion dollars annually in crime, lost productivity, health problems, premature death, underemployment, and family stability. Specifically:

• The estimated economic cost of alcohol dependence and abuse was $185 billion for 1998.³ More than 70 percent of those costs were attributed to lost productivity ($134.2 billion), including losses from alcohol-related illness ($87.6 billion), premature death ($36.5 billion), and crime ($10.1 billion).
  
  
• Additional alcohol-related costs include: health care expenditures ($26.3 billion, or 14.3 percent of the total), property and administrative costs of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes ($15.7 billion, or 8.5 percent), and criminal justice system costs of alcohol-related crime ($6.3 billion, or 3.4 percent).⁴
  
  
• Cigarette smoking costs this country about $158 billion a year; illicit drug use alone accounts for $181 billion in crime, productivity loss, healthcare, incarceration, and drug enforcement.⁵

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