The strongeconomicstrong costs of heroin addiction in the United States.pdfVIP

Drug and Alcohol Dependence 61 (2001) 195–206 locatedrugalcdep The economic costs of heroin addiction in the United States Tami L. Mark *, George E. Woody, Tim Juday, Herbert D. Kleber The MEDSTAT Group, Inc., 4301 Connecticut Aenue, NW, Suite 330, Washington, DC 20008, USA Received 13 September 1999; received in revised form 1 June 2000; accepted 1 June 2000 Abstract This study documents the costs of heroin addiction in the United States, both to the addict and society at large. Using a cost-of-illness approach, costs were estimated in four broad areas: medical care, lost productivity, crime, and social welfare. We estimate that the cost of heroin addiction in the United States was US$21.9 billion in 1996. Of these costs, productivity losses accounted for US$11.5 billion (53%), criminal activities US$5.2 billion (24%), medical care US$5.0 billion (23%), and social welfare US$0.1 billion (0.5%). The large economic burden resulting from heroin addiction highlights the importance of investment in prevention and treatment. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Heroin; Opiates; Injecting drug use; Methadone; Cost-of-illness; Economics; Policy 1. Introduction Hodgson and Meiners identify three types of costs that can be included in cost-of-illness studies: (1) direct Over the years, several studies have estimated the costs; (2) indirect costs resulting from losses in output;