The Cost Of Addiction
A Sky-Rocketing Death Rate
Opiate addiction has reached epidemic proportions in Maryland and overdose deaths are now the NUMBER ONE cause of accidental death – higher than traffic fatalities, homicides or suicides!
If our children were dying of anything else, our state would be under quarantine. In 2016, there were 2,089 drug and alcohol related deaths throughout our state, a 66% increase over 2015 –a rate that has more than tripled since 2010.
89% were opiate related – a rate that has more than doubled since 2010. And we also know that for every fatal overdose, there are 9 survived overdoses – bringing our state total to an estimated 18,801 overdoses in 2016! This is simply unacceptable!
Unmet Treatment Needs – Costly For Everyone
According to data an estimated 103,000 Maryland residents were dependent on illicit drugs and in need of treatment and support services. 10,000 were under 18 years of age. Less than 1 in 10 who need treatment for drug dependence are receiving it, while 7 in 10 individuals with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and depression receive treatment for their conditions.
How is it possible that in one of the most affluent and well-educated states in the nation, less than 1 in 10 individuals who need treatment for an often fatal disorder, cannot access the healthcare services they need?
Maryland’s #1 health problem is also its #1 budget problem! According to recent data, 15% of our state budget is spent on addiction and risky substance use. Only 5 cents of every dollar pays for prevention and treatment, while 95 cents pays for the consequences – justice system and police services, hospitalization and emergency healthcare costs, and welfare and other social services.
Substance abuse costs the Maryland economy six billion annually. However, studies show that for every $1 invested in treatment, taxpayer’s save $7 in reduced crime and criminal justice costs, and another $5 in reduced health care costs. Untreated addiction causes a serious financial burden on our state’s economy, and its consequences are the single greatest drain on Maryland’s budget.
Addiction is not just a problem for the addict. It is a problem for every tax-paying citizen in Maryland. Every Maryland tax-payer deserves a better return on their financial investment!
Immeasurable Suffering
Statistics, however, cannot begin to paint the picture of pain, suffering, and heartbreak that families endure as they compete for scarce treatment resources for a substance-dependent family member. Parents helplessly watch as an addicted child succumbs to the progression of their disorder and its probable outcomes – incarceration or death, when they are unable to access appropriate and necessary treatment for their child.
Children raised by parents with an untreated drug or alcohol problem are often neglected and at risk. The negative impact on our children, families, and communities is beyond measure.
Greed and Corruption –Drivers of Our Healthcare Crisis
How did we get here? In Maryland, there are between 72 and 82 opioid prescriptions written each year, per every 100 Maryland citizens. Health care providers across the nation write hundreds of millions of prescriptions for opioid painkillers each year – enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.
Although the U.S. comprises less than five percent of the world’s population, Americans consume 80% of the global opioid painkillers and 99% of the global supply of hydrocodone, the active ingredient in Vicodin.
The amount of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. has quadrupled over the past 15 years, exploding into a $24 billion / year industry, even though there has been no overall change in the amount of pain that Americans report. It is now common knowledge that deaths from prescription opioids – drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone, have also quadrupled during this same time in direct correlation to sales.
We know that one quarter of those who are prescribed pain pills will become addicted to these medications. And we also know that at least three quarters of first time heroin users were already abusing, if not dependent upon, prescription opioids. Americans can no longer trust the messaging, “safe and effective when taken as prescribed”.
In addition, our medical community has not been properly educated or trained in pain management or addiction medicine. In essence, our nation has become infected with a dire and often fatal malignancy for which the majority of our medical community is not competent to diagnosis or treat. We can no longer simply rely on our healthcare practitioners to make the best and safest decisions for our healthcare. We are a society in crisis!