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| 9 February 2001 - The San Diego Union-Tribune Spending money to save millions By Mary F. Harrison There's something out there that's costing you around $300 a year. Would you pay about $14 to try to get rid of it? Absolutely. A new study shows nationwide; each American pays about $277 in AOL, taxes for social programs to deal with problems created by alcohol and drug abuse. But only a small fraction of that money was spent on prevention and treatment. The numbers are from a report released recently on a three-year study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. That report says for every person living in California in 1998, the state spent $323 on programs to clean up the problems caused by substance abuse. That same year, Sacramento spent just $14 on prevention, treatment, and research. Ditto for San Diego County. Substance abuse costs the county a whopping $1.8 billion a year. Out of every dollar spent nationwide on substance abuse problems, states spend 96 cents on social welfare, cops, prosecutors, courts and caring for crime victims, but only four cents of every dollar for substance abuse prevention and treatment. There's no question that even with a surplus in the state budget, California lawmakers are hard-pressed to, get the most out of every tax dollar they spend. But they need to make it a top priority to create and support energetic, effective programs to prevent substance abuse, and to treat its victims. It's not really up to the government to solve all of our problems by itself. What about the private sector? Shouldn't it step up to the drug abuse prevention plate as well? It is. There are countless examples of business getting involved in prevention. After all, drug abuse in the workplace costs businesses $20 billion a year in increased health costs and lost productivity. A good example of corporate support for prevention comes from the media industry. The Partnership for a Drug Free America, a nonprofit coalition of communications, professionals, strives to reduce demand for illegal drugs in America by changing societal attitudes that support tolerate or condone drug use. Businesses like Kaiser Permanente, here in San Diego, donate money to air these messages. Chenin Bridgeman is an active member of the East County Youth Alliance, and managing editor of Smoke Signal, the school Newspaper at El Cajon Valley High. She says, "Students are exposed to the drug prevention message in school, but they need to hear it more often. I heard about it in the DARE program in the sixth grade. And it's part of the life Management class that everyone's required to take before they graduate. But if students don't take that class until their senior year, it may be too late. They may already be using drugs or alcohol, by the 12th grade." It is clear the business community supports prevention and treatment, the media support it, and the public demands it. The government is supposed to be of the people, for the people, by the people. What's wrong with this picture? Every dime that state senators, Assembly members and the governor spend on prevention and treatment will pay dividends in the future, reducing the cost of cleaning up the mess left behind by substance abuse. Those are the cold, hard, fiscal realities. By focusing on prevention and treatment of substance abuse, the people who hold the purse strings in Sacramento also can reduce the human cost, easing the suffering of the people who struggle with substance abuse and reduce the grief caused to their families and friends. They also can keep the next generation of Californians from falling victim to the same troubles, and that's truly priceless. Article Snapshot (33K) |
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