Prevention Saves Money

Preventing substance use/abuse is cost effective:
o Every dollar invested in research based substance use/abuse prevention programs, strategies and activities have the potential to save up to $7 in areas such as substance abuse treatment and criminal justice system costs.

Preventing substance use/abuse saves lives:
o Alcohol abuse kills approximately 100,000 Americans every year, and is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
o Alcohol-involved crashes resulted in 16,792 fatalities, 513,000 nonfatal injuries, and $50.9 billion in economic costs in 2000, accounting for 22 percent of all crash costs.
o Drugs are used by approximately 10 to 22 percent of drivers involved in crashes, often in combination with alcohol.
o Drugged driving causes $33 billion in damages every year.

Preventing substance use/abuse reduces related medical consequences:
o Each year approximately 40 million debilitating illnesses or injuries occur among Americans as the result of their use of tobacco, alcohol or illicit drugs.
o The estimated total cost of medical consequences (including hospital and ambulatory care, drug exposed infants; tuberculosis; HIV/AIDS; Hepatitis B and C; crime victim health care costs; and health insurance administration) associated with drug abuse in the United States was $5.7 billion.