Substance Abuse Costing States As Much As Higher Education

By David Ho

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Dealing with the impact of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes costs states about as much as paying for higher education, a private study estimates.

The direct and indirect influence of substance abuse costs states $81.3 billion dollars in one year – or about 13 percent of their budgets, according to the study released Monday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

The three-year, state-by-state study, titled “Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets,” put New York at the top in percentage of funds – 18 percent of its budget – used to “shovel up the wreckage” of abuse. South Carolina had the lowest percentage among states – about 7 percent. The year studied was 1998.

Connecticut spent the third-lowest budget percentage in dealing with substance abuse. The state designated $873 million, or 7.6 percent of its budget.

“Substance abuse and addiction is the elephant in the living room of state government, creating havoc with service systems, causing illness, injury, and death, and consuming increasing amounts of state resources,” Joseph A. Califano, Jr, the center’s president, said.

Only about four percent of the total spending – about $3 billion – was for prevention and treatment programs, Mr Califano said, while the vast majority is drained in the aftermath of substance abuse from state services that range from law enforcement and welfare to health care and education.

“Governors who want to curb child abuse, teen pregnancy, and domestic violence and further reduce welfare rolls must face up to this reality: unless they prevent and treat alcohol and drug abuse and addiction, their other well intentioned efforts are doomed,” Mr Califano said.

Connecticut only spends three percent of its substance abuse budget – about $27 million – on prevention and treatment. The bulk of the state’s substance abuse spending is on adult-jail programs – $315 million – and health programs – $287 million.

The report recommends greater investment in prevention and treatment programs, particularly among prisoners, to keep those released from committing additional drug-related crimes.

“We cannot simply arrest our way out of the problem,” Edward H. Jurith, the acting director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, said in a statement. “Treatment programs that follow a criminal from arrest to post-release follow-up must be implemented to end the cycle of drug abuse and crime.”

The drug office’s estimates, using 1995 data, place the overall federal, state, and local costs of drug and alcohol use at $277 billion every year. This includes law enforcement and social programs.

The new study uses data about state spending on prevention programs, research and health care costs directly related to substance abuse. For indirect costs, researchers estimated the “burden” on state resources.

For example, to estimate substance abuse costs in elementary and high school education, the researchers considered the expenses caused by all abusers. Mothers who drink while pregnant and have children with fetal alcohol syndrome influence the costs of special education when those kids go to school. Student drug use affects the need for drug testing and health care, and drug-related violence might require more spending on security and repairs. Teachers who abuse substances can cost the state in productivity, work time, and more expensive health insurance.

Of the states, New York’s estimated 18 percent amounted to $8.7 billion. Massachusetts spent 17.4 percent of its budget and California 16 percent.

Substance abuse cost estimates were lowest in Puerto Rico (6.1 percent) and South Carolina (6.6 percent).

When it came to spending per person, however, the District of Columbia topped the list, spending $812 in substance abuse-related costs for each resident. North Dakota spent the least – $155 per person.

Connecticut was 19th on the per-capita spending list – $267 per person.

Susan Foster, the study’s principal researcher, cautioned against comparisons between states because their report doesn’t count federal funds and states spend different proportions of their budgets on social programs.

Total state government spending in 1998 was $620 billion, with 13.1 percent related to substance abuse, the report said. In comparison, states spent on average 13.1 percent of their budgets on higher education, 11.3 percent on Medicaid, and 8.3 percent on transportation.

Connecticut’s total state government spending was $11.4 billion in 1998. The state spent 9.9 percent on Medicaid, 8.7 percent on higher education, and 7.2 percent on transportation.

State justice systems had the largest portion of the expenses attributed to substance abuse, spending $30.7 billion on prisons, juvenile justice, and court costs.

In Connecticut, substance abuse costs in prisons, juvenile justice, and courts were $326 million.