Substance abuse costs eat up more than 1 in 6 dollars of Washington state’s budget — report

Washington state spends more than 15 percent of its budget coping with problems due to tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by National Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse, a private group at Columbia University in New York City, found that in 2005, the latest year for which figures were available, Washington state spent more than $3.2 billion dealing with substance abuse and addiction.

That works out to $503.10 for every man, woman and child in the state.

The state’s $3.2 billion in substance abuse-related expenditures include $834 million for law enforcement and incarceration, $582 million for health care, and $255 million for child and family assistance services.

$90 million went prevention, treatment, and research — just 0.4 percent of the state’s total budget.

The National Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse study found that, when all federal, state and local spending were added up, the U.S. spent at least $467.7 billion in 2005 on substance abuse-related issues, more than 10 percent of all government spending nationwide.

Of that $467.7 billion more than 95 percent was spent on coping with problems caused by substance abuse and only 1.9 percent went to prevention and treatment, the study found.

And additional 1.4 percent went to the administration of tobacco and alcohol taxation and regulation and 0.7 percent to drug interdiction. 

Joseph A. Califano, Jr., chairman of the center and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, said the country’s “upside-down-cake public policy is unconscionable.”

“Under any circumstances, spending more than 95 percent of taxpayer dollars on the crime, health care costs, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and other consequences of tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse, and only two percent to relieve individuals and taxpayers of these burdens, is a reckless misallocation of public funds,” Mr. Califano said.

Additional findings from the report:

Key Findings

• Of the $3.3 trillion total federal and state government spending, $373.9 billion – 11.2 percent, more than one of every ten dollars– was spent on tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction and its consequences.

• The federal government spent $238.2 billion (9.6 percent of its budget) on substance abuse and addiction. If substance abuse and addiction were its own budget category at the federal level, it would rank sixth, behind social security, national defense, income security, Medicare and other health programs including the federal share of Medicaid.

• State governments spent $135.8 billion (15.7 percent of their budgets) to deal with substance abuse and addiction, up from 13.3 percent in 1998. If substance abuse and addiction were its own state budget category, it would rank second behind spending on elementary and secondary education. 

• Local governments spent $93.8 billion on substance abuse and addiction (9 percent of their budgets), outstripping local spending for transportation and public welfare.
  
• For every $100 spent by state governments on substance abuse and addiction, the average spent on prevention, treatment and research was $2.38; Connecticut spent the most, $10.39; New Hampshire spent the least, $0.22.

• For every dollar the federal and state governments spent on prevention and treatment, they spent $59.83 shoveling up the consequences, despite a growing body of scientific evidence confirming the efficacy and cost savings of science-based interventions.

• With respect to children, for every dollar federal and state governments spent on prevention or treatment, they spent $60.25 shoveling up the consequences of substance abuse and addiction.

• For each dollar in alcohol and tobacco taxes and liquor store revenues that federal and state governments collect, they spend $8.95 shoveling up the consequences of substance abuse and addiction.

To learn more:

• Visit the Web site of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, where a breakdown of Washington state’s spending can be found.
• Visit the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus alcohol and drug abuse information pages.

Some local resources:

• King County  listing of  local Drug & Alcohol Treatment Programs.
• MetroKC Mental Health & Substance Abuse Links: www.metrokc.gov/dchs/mhd/mhlinks.htm

Tags: Alcohol, Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse, Tobacco

Category: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Smoking, Substance Abuse