The Cost Of Drug Abuse In U.S.

Tops $1 Trillion

CNT has estimated economic cost of the drug epidemic as U.S.

$1 trillion every year.

While the rising nations drug epidemic has been well

documented, the actual cost to the society and economy has
been greatly underestimated. Taking into consideration the
staggering costs of criminal justice, treatment and loss of
productivity, the estimated
real cost of Americas
drug epidemic according
to us exceeds $1 trillion,
said Kumar Cidambi,
CEO of the Center for
Network Therapy (CNT),
New Jerseys first licensed ambulatory detox facility which
provides services for the treatment of all substances of abuse.

The cost will certainly rise if no changes in policies that

promote criminalization and restrict funding for treatment, he
said. As per the report of 2011 Department of Justice, National
Drug Intelligence Center titled, The Economic Impact of Illegal
Drug Use on American Society and the cost of illicit drug use to
the U.S. economy was $193 billion in 2007. Then after 2007
and till the year 2015, deaths rose to 230% from illicit drugs
overdose, indicating the cost rose to around $445 billion.

However, only 42% of overdose deaths in real can be attributed

to illicit drugs, whereas the remaining result from the illicit
drugs abuse due to prescription opiates and pain pill abuse (to
treat pain), benzodiazepines (to treat anxiety), etc. Combining
the costs associated with illicit drug abuse the actual financial
cost likely topped $1 trillion in 2015, said Cidambi.

The drug abuse has such a wide-reaching implications for the

U.S. economy, such that Federal Reserve Chairman, Janet
Yellen, has attributed rampant opioid abuse to the decline in
labor force participation among prime-age workers.

Mr. Kumar Cidambi proposes three ways to get rid of drug

epidemics serious societal and economic impact:

Decriminalization In the
year 2015, there were
approximately 1.5 million
arrests for drug law violation
and four out of five of them
were for possession.
Decriminalization of drug
possession because of
violation may hit the biggest
for the buck because,
according to the U.S.
Department of Justice, more than 50% of the costs related to
illicit drug is criminal justice and incarceration.

It is the time now we use the token economy modality of

treatment that universally offers individuals a clean record upon
successful completion of addiction treatment. This would cut
down criminal justice costs in a larger way and also enable those
in recovery to more easily re-integrate into the job market, said
Cidambi.

Treatment According to U.S. Department of Justice report,

the addiction treatment cost of accounted for only 6% of the
total costs that are associated with illicit drug use. It is essential
to do the funding for the treatment with funds allocated wisely
to methods proven clinically effective and economically
prudent. In comparison to traditional inpatient treatment, the
outpatient model is less costly and delivers better results
because it integrates the home environment into treatment. At
CNT, we initiated the Ambulatory (Outpatient) Detoxification
model and it has delivered far better result relative to inpatient
detoxification, said Cidambi.

Prevention In the year 2015, nearly 60% of overdose deaths

were because of prescription medication. To avoid and correct
this situation, greater investment should go in educating people
about the addictive potential of some prescription medications.

I suggest that government mandate that every physician's office

should display educational posters that warns about the
addictive potential of certain medications, such as opiates (used
to treat pain), benzodiazepines (used to treat anxiety), and
stimulants (used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder), according to Cidambi. This approach will certainly
encourage patients to have an informed conversation with their
physicians about limiting the use of addictive medications. ###

Center for Network Therapy (CNT) was the first ever licensed
facility in New Jersey to provide Ambulatory (Outpatient)
Detoxification Services for all substances of abuse alcohol,
benzodiazepines, anesthetics, opiates and other substances of
abuse. CNT is led by Board Certified Addiction Psychiatrist,
Indra Cidambi, M.D. experienced physicians and ASAM
certified nurses who closely monitor each patients progress.
With CNTs superior and high quality client care and treatment,
Dr. Cidambi and her clinical team were able to successfully
detox over 1,000 patients in four years. The Center for Network
Therapy too offer step down to Partial Care (PHP and Intensive
Outpatient (IOP) levels of care.

For more information about Addiction Treatment kindly contact us

CENTER FOR NETWORK THERAPY

Phone: (732) 560-1080 Fax: (732) 560-1081Location: B, 333 Cedar Ave #3, Middlesex,

NJ 08846