ALCOHOL AND DRUG PROBLEMS

PREVALENCE AND COSTS TO SOCIETY

·                    Approximately 6 million Americans persistently misuse alcohol and an additional 8 million are addicted (Newsweek, 2/12/01 & 10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol & Health) and 14 million more abuse illicit drugs (Newsweek)

 

·                    More than one-half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism (10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol & Health)

 

·                    Approximately one in four children younger than 18 years old in the United States is exposed to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence in the family (10th Special Report)

 

·                    100,000 Americans will die this year from alcohol-related causes (Newsweek)

 

·                    Traffic crashes involving alcohol killed more than 16,000 people in 1997 alone and injure more than 1,000,000 more each year (10th Special Report)

 

·                    In 1996 alone, 1.5 million people were arrested for driving while intoxicated (the leading category of arrests for the past decade accounting for nearly 10% of all arrests) (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

 

·                    As many as half of all people with serious mental illness develop alcohol or other drug abuse problems at some point in their lives (Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health, 1999)

 

·                    Substance-abusing employees use 2.5 times more medical benefits and 10 times more sick leave than non-abusing employees; they also account for more than twice the number of worker compensation claims as non-abusers (ODADAS)

 

·                    Substance abuse has been linked to 20-35% of all suicides, up to 70% of spousal abuse cases, 38% of all traffic fatalities, 50% of murders, 68% of manslaughter charges, 40% of accidental drownings, 38% of child abuse cases, 52% of rapes (including date rapes) and 25% of serious assaults, according to material compiled by Ohio Violence Prevention Process (OVPP) trainers and coordinators (ODADAS)

 

·                    It is estimated that nearly 80% of Ohio’s inmates have an alcohol or other drug addiction (ODADAS)

 

·                    50% of all prisoners report that they were under the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of the offense (Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati)

 

·                    Annual cost of prison, $24,000; annual cost of treatment, $5,000 (ODADAS)

 

·                    Overall estimated national costs for alcohol and drug abuse for 1995 are $276.3 billion due to lost productivity, health care costs, criminal justice costs, etc. (SAMHSA); $331 million for Butler County alone