Did you know that addiction is more than just a public health crisis? In fact, the economic cost of addiction wreaks havoc on the families of addicts, their communities, and society as a whole. In this article, we’ll look into the startling financial statistics linked to addiction and explore their causes.
Since addiction was recognized as a disease, it has been considered a public health issue, with extensive resources put into prevention and treatment. These efforts have cost a fortune in and of themselves. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been poured into raising awareness and making treatment accessible to all.
But the financial impact of addiction does not begin and end with the nationwide attempts at resolving the crisis. There are associated costs, direct and indirect, which drain the reserves of everyone from the families of the addicts, to their communities, and to both public and private society.
Why is addiction such a huge economic concern? What do we need to do to address the problem?
Economic Impact on Families of Addicts
The financial impact of addiction on the individual is easy to understand. They spend money on substances rather than basic necessities. They miss work or lose their jobs, take out high interest loans and fail to pay them back. This can lead to long-term issues, including the loss of housing and the repossession of assets.
But when we look beyond the addict, the people exposed to most financial strain are their close family members. They are often left to carry the burden of addiction’s consequences. It’s not just the cost of treatment that they need to pay for, either.
An AP News article demonstrated this reality through the poignant story of Joe Smith. At 66, he should have been thinking about a cosy retirement. However, due to his daughter’s addiction, he and his wife were left to raise their infant granddaughter.
In addition to the expenditure put into trying to help their daughter get back on their feet, the Smiths now had a range of other unforeseen expenses. They included:
- Adapting their home to house a baby
- Clothes, diapers, a crib, toys, and groceries
- Healthcare for an extra family member
- Childcare and school fees
- Legal fees for taking on custody
- Countless missed hours of work attending court hearings
Much of the financial havoc addiction wreaked on their daughter was therefore passed onto them. Since they could not have planned for this circumstance, they had to change their entire economic outlook for their golden years.
This is unfortunately a common example of how addiction affects families. It doesn’t tell the full story, either. The knock-on effect cannot always be measured. Families under this kind of strain face additional physical and mental health issues, leading to healthcare costs not technically related to addiction, along with further income loss.
The Burden of Addiction on Communities
Addiction has a massive economic impact on communities. But before we go into the details, it is important to determine what we mean when we talk about communities.
What Do We Mean By Community?
Communities are nebulous things. They are rarely defined solely by location, demographics, shared interests, or causes. Trying to determine who is or isn’t part of a community is often a fruitless task.
For the purpose of this discussion, we are going to talk about communities based on general location. This is not an entirely satisfying solution. After all, a community in a New York neighborhood functions very differently to one in a rural or small town setting.
However, it is often due to proximity that economic burdens become shared. State welfare programs are localized and non-profit organizations serve particular areas. Businesses are impacted by the goings-on of the people living nearby. The impact is felt regardless of whether community members know each other’s names or share values and interests.
Addiction in Communities
The most direct impact of addiction in communities is often seen in the structures maintaining the wellbeing of the locality. They have to provide various kinds of help to those who are suffering as well as their families.
The healthcare system carries the burden before any other. Admissions rise with an increasing rate of overdoses, accidents due to impaired decision-making such as drunk driving, violent acts committed by people under the influence of substances, and the violence often committed in service of the drug trade.
This also impacts the general health of the community, as not only those with addictions suffer, but people who do not receive adequate care (because of a lack of capacity in hospitals) experience worse outcomes as well. Private individuals and non-governmental organizations are regularly left to find solutions, whether using volunteers or donations.
Rising crime rates necessitate the increasing use of legal services. Additional policing is required, people accused of crime need to be provided legal representation, and victims of crime who do not have the necessary funds to go to court turn to community organizations.
Local businesses suffer due to lost productivity, with addicted individuals calling in sick or just not coming in. Those who do continue working miss deadlines and make mistakes. Crime may impact businesses as well, especially those selling tangible products or with expensive equipment in their offices.
Financial Impact on Society
Of course, the financial impact of addiction on society mirrors the impact on communities at a much larger scale. State and federal governments end up reserving large portions of annual budgets for tackling the impact of addiction. Billions of additional dollars are spent on healthcare, the legal system, and subsidized treatment.
Awareness and prevention campaigns, as well as support initiatives, have a heavy impact on budgets too. Congress has authorized the use of over $ 10 billion on addressing the opioid crisis alone.
The loss of productivity in private businesses and the economic struggles of individuals and families have a knock-on effect on the GDP, leading the economy as a whole to suffer losses.
Future Economic Struggles
Addiction and the problems it brings do not just impact the finances of current generations. Children born to families with addiction often start life at a financial disadvantage. Added responsibilities at home cause issues at school, increasing dropout rates. Poor hygiene and nutrition, and lack of access to quality healthcare, leave lasting legacies on overall health and the near-guarantee of large healthcare expenses in future.
Children of addicts are also more likely to become addicted themselves. Their economic struggles are compounded further. It can become more difficult to escape poverty with each generation.
The Benefits of Investment in Prevention and Treatment
Billions of dollars have been poured into programs designed to raise awareness, prevent, and treat substance addiction. There are critics of this spending who point to the fact that addiction rates are still high. They see the funding going into these programs as wasted.
However, the tide is slowly turning when it comes to addiction and overdose rates, with the CDC reporting that last year saw the largest improvement since 2019. But it’s not just individuals with addiction who benefit from investment in these programs. With the massive economic toll addiction takes on families, communities, and society as a whole, addressing the issue benefits everyone.
Research has consistently shown that investment in addiction prevention and treatment yields actual economic gain. Programs like the Nurse Family Partnership have seen a benefit of almost $ 3 for every dollar spent. Many other programs have shown similar economic benefits, with some of the more targeted programs showing benefits of ten dollars or more per dollar spent.
Medicaid, which funds healthcare for disadvantaged families across the country, is drawn on more than any other program for costs related to addiction. The burden on Medicaid leads to greater economic struggles for those most in need of healthcare and increases the need for government spending. Prevention and treatment programs lower the burden on Medicaid, thereby improving the economic outlook.
Investment in programs targeting addiction needs to continue happening at every level. The economic cost of addiction on families, communities, and society is huge and can only be lessened by addressing the crisis itself.
Conclusion
The economic impact of addiction goes far beyond the cost of treatment. It is a huge burden for families, communities, and society in general. Jobs are lost, healthcare costs rise, legal fees add to the struggle, and crime exacerbates everyone’s financial suffering.
While addiction prevention and treatment programs require investment at all levels, research has shown that they have a net-positive economic benefit. It is well worth addressing the addiction crisis, even from a monetary perspective.
Sources
EBSCO: Economic impact of addiction
AXIOS Pittsburgh: What opioid use disorder costs Pennsylvania
The Funding Family: The Financial Impact of Substance Abuse
KFF: Medicaid’s Role in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
USAFacts: How much money does the government appropriate to combat the opioid epidemic?
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): Investing in Prevention Makes Good Financial Sense
Movendi International: Cost-Benefit of Prevention
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