Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse

"Costs" of alcohol and drug abuse may be defined as the monetary expenditures necessitated as the result of consequences of alcohol and other drug use. Financial costs include decreases in potential gains; for example, substance abuse impedes productivity of workers and can result in high rates of absenteeism, drug-related illnesses and injuries, increased health care expenditures, low employee morale, theft, and premature death. Costs of drug abuse are also associated with lost production due to drug-related crime careers, incarceration, and correctional services. In addition, often the pursuit of obtaining or purchasing drugs, as well as the time spent using drugs, causes financial problems. Strangely enough, in making drugs harder to obtain or use, it is likely that costs (e.g., financial, time, or addiction) of drug ...