Adding up the true costs of substance abuse

    When residents in Aroostook County sit down to do their bills each month, they may not know that they are paying for substance abuse as well. In Maine, the Office of Substance Abuse estimated the 2005 cost of substance abuse was $898.4 million or $682 for every resident.     According to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) society is paying $510.8 billion for substance abuse. Alcohol abuse was responsible for $191.6 billion (37.5 percent) of the $510.8 billion, tobacco use was responsible for $167.8 billion (32.9 percent), and drug abuse was responsible for $151.4 billion (29.6 percent).
    Prevention and treatment are key in addressing this urgent public health issue. In light of these recent reports Guy Cousins, director of the Maine Office of Substance Abuse noted, “It is clear that the benefits of investing into evidenced based prevention and treatment far outweigh the costs. With what we are facing in this economic climate, it is clear that substance abuse prevention and treatment programs have immediate and long-term cost savings by reducing medical and hospital costs, reducing the likelihood of being arrested or involved with the legal system. Prevention and treatment programs help employers reduce absenteeism and tardiness, lower on the job injuries, and fewer mistakes. We have proven methods to lower the cost of substance abuse for every citizen of the State of Maine.”
    The total estimated cost of providing treatment in Maine in State Fiscal Year 2008, was $30.7 million. Ruth Blauer, executive director, for the Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs, stated that, “while the substance abuse treatment system in Maine has reached its capacity, Maine continues to have one of the highest unmet drug treatment needs for adolescents in the nation and treatment needs for women and for prescription drug abuse continues to rise.” She added that “the funding for treatment is a small subset of the total expense to Maine, commenting that the smallest proportion of the total cost (2.8 percent) in the 2005 Cost Report was substance abuse treatment at $25.2 million. At $214.4 million, the category showing the highest estimated cost was crime (23.9 percent). Clearly, substance abuse has serious consequences that affect all Mainers in ways that cannot be quantified through economic analysis.”
    According to Rachel Charette, project director of the Power of Prevention and Community Voices member, “preventing substance abuse is a community issue that affects all of us directly or indirectly. We need to collaboratively address the issue in the home, at work, and in the schools if we are going to make a significant difference on local fronts.”
    “Implementing prevention programs and effective policies reduces costs on all levels. We need to ensure that our policy leaders and decisions makers understand their critical role in that process” remarked Melissa Boyd, coordinator of the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse.
    SAMHSA’s cost benefit analysis report outlines that “effective nationwide school-based substance abuse prevention programming would offer state savings within two years ranging from: $36 million to $199 million in juvenile justice, $383 million to $2.1 billion in education and $68 million to $360 million in health services.”
    In Aroostook County, the Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey (MYDAUS) that is administered through the Maine Office of Substance Abuse reported “The proportion of Maine’s middle and high school students drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, or smoking marijuana in the 30 days preceding the (survey) was significantly lower in 2008 than in 2000.”
    The cost benefits of prevention and treatment programs clearly demonstrate not only savings but, an investment in the production of healthy members of society, Boyd added.
    Community Voices is a non-profit membership organization with volunteer members. Work of the coalition and its members has been recognized state-wide, and one member receiving national recognition in 2008. Community Voices represents advocates for the reduction of underage drinking and for healthy communities without substance abuse and is working under contract from both Healthy Aroostook and the Power of Prevention.
    To learn more about Community Voices, call 207-834-5540.