Today I participated in a “Lunch & Learn” at The
Addictions Care Center of Albany. ACCA has provided forty-seven years of
intervention, treatment and advocacy. Today they are all about prevention and
treatment, and their prevention programs begin in kindergarten and reach into
upper grades. Their treatment programs include residential options and
outpatient treatment and programs specifically for men, women, and moms with
kids.
Here is what I learned at today’s presentation:
22.5 Million Americans used an illicit substance –in the
last month. In a month! And 1.9 million of those folks are in New York State.
Now, a use doesn’t make you an addict, but it might get you there. So it’s also
significant that only 1 in ten people who need treatment are receiving it. Big problem.
And the other number that made me sit up was this: The cost
of addictions is $67 Billion last year in the United States. That cost includes
costs to the healthcare system, criminal justice system and lost work, lost
wages, family impact. For example, 22% of all police cases involve
addition/addicts in some way. And 13% of all employee sick days are addiction
related. (Yeah, look around the office, and think again.)
Now here’s another striking number: Every $1 in prevention
saves seven dollars in taxpayer costs. That means that our lives and our
recoveries are an important social issue.
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