The costs of drug abuse consequences: a summary of research findings

The purpose of this article is to provide researchers, clinicians, and policymakers with a common source of published cost estimates for drug abuse consequences. Across the broad range of potential complications associated with drug abuse, some of the cost elements are specific and directly related to drug abuse per se (e.g., drug treatment costs), while other items may be related to drug abuse (e.g., typical emergency room cost). The results presented here are based on a review of completed and ongoing studies, which include published papers, monographs, conference presentations, working papers, reports, insurance company records, newsletters, and expert judgment. Whenever possible, we report an average cost estimate and the range of available estimates. Each cost element is normalized to 1994 dollars. The results are organized by type of cost and are presented in tabular format so that the findings can be easily understood and used.