www.alkoholpolitik.ch

According to a report CASA issued this morning, (see our entry yesterday) federal, state and local governments spend almost half a trillion dollars every year — almost 11 percent of their total budgets — as a result of alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and addiction. The worst part is that, for federal and state spending, about 95% of that money is spent “Shoveling Up” the mess created by a failure to provide enough money for prevention and treatment.
Out of every dollar federal and state governments spent on substance misuse in 2005 (the latest data available), 95 cents paid for the enormous burden of this problem on health care, criminal justice, child welfare, education, and other programs. And only 2 cents were invested in prevention and treatment programs that could reduce many of these costs — and save lives.
This huge waste of money is hidden in many different budgets, so most of our elected officials don’t have a clue about how much alcohol, tobacco and other drugs really cost taxpayers, and how little governments spend to effectively address the problem. Maybe if they knew, they might do something. You can tell them. (Source: Join Together, Take Action! 5/29/09)

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