12:52 PM ET 05/13/98

Alcohol, drug abuse cost U.S. $246 billion - report

            WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Abuse of alcohol and other drugs
costs the United States more than $246 billion a year, a
government study published Wednesday found.
            That worked out to $965 for every man, woman and child in
the country, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) said.
            ``This study confirms the enormous damage done to society by
alcohol and drug-related problems,'' NIAAA director Dr. Enoch
Gordis said in a statement.
            The $246 billion figure came from 1992, the latest year for
which data were available, the agencies said. The study
estimated costs for 1995 were $276 billion.
            The 1992 figures were 42 percent higher for alcohol and 50
percent higher for drugs over 1985, the previous year for which
figures were available, even accounting for inflation and
population growth.
            ``The magnitude of these costs underscores the need to find
better ways to prevent and treat these disorders,'' Gordis said.
            Alcohol abuse represented about 60 percent of the cost,
while drug abuse and dependence was responsible for the rest,
the report said.
            ``Substance abuse and addiction have serious medical and
social consequences,'' NIDA director Alan Leshner said in the
statement.
            ``This study indicates that emergence of health problems
from the cocaine and HIV epidemics during this period
substantially increased drug-related costs to society.''
            The agencies said that while the rise in costs from 1985 to
1992 was big, it may have been slightly misleading. They said
most of the increase in the estimates on alcohol was due to a
change in how the statistics were measured, which they said
suggested the 1985 figures were underestimated.
            ``In contrast, over 80 percent of the increase in estimated
cost of drug abuse is due to real changes in drug-related
emergency room episodes, criminal justice expenditures and
service delivery patterns,'' the statement said.
            The agencies reviewed other research and decided the costs
of alcohol abuse were high, but steady, over the past 20 years,
while there was a steady rise in the costs of drug abuse.
            Some of the costs of alcohol abuse included lost
productivity due to illness or early death, health care costs,
property damage and crime. For drugs, more than half the costs
came from drug-related crime.
            ``Much of the economic burden of alcohol and drug problems
falls on the population that does not abuse alcohol and drugs,''
study author Henrick Harwood of The Lewin Group said.
            It said 39 percent of the cost of alcohol abuse was borne by
government, 10 percent by insurance and 6 percent by victims.
Forty-six percent of the cost of drug abuse was paid by
government, 3 percent by insurance and 7 percent by victims.