New CASA study reveals where taxpayer funds have been going in regards to substance abuse issues.
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) just released a report on what drug and alcohol addiction cost federal, state and local governments. The figures were astonishingly high - around $467.7 billion in 2005.
But what was even more surprising was that the new 287 page report called Shoveling Up II: The Impact of Substance Abuse on the Federal, State and Local Budgets , found that $357.4 billion of the funds went to handle the consequences of addiction which include things such as child abuse, welfare, crime, healthcare costs, homelessness and several other negative effects.
And while 96.5% of the monies went to handling the effects of substance abuse, only 1.9% of the monies went to drug rehab. A clear outness recognized by the public and CASA as seen in a press release issued by its Chairman, Joseph A. Califano Jr.
In the release, Califano commented, “Under any circumstances spending more than 95 percent of taxpayer dollars on the consequences of tobacco, alcohol and other drug abuse and addiction and less than two percent to relieve individuals and taxpayers of this burden would be considered a reckless misallocation of public funds.”
A misallocation that has cost billions of taxpayer dollars that could have gone to treating the source of the problem instead of the effects of it.
“Treating the consequences of addiction instead of the source will cause major problems,” says Erica Catton, Director of Promotion for Narconon East U.S. “There are many underlying issues that if they are left untreated will cause the addiction to get worse and worse. As a result the individual starts and neglect and destroy those people and things around him, commit crimes, become homeless and even hurts himself and others. At Narconon we believe the only way to truly handle this dwindling spiral is through effective drug rehabilitation.”
And what makes a program effective is that it treats both the mental and physical components of substance abuse issues. This is the way Narconon has been achieving stable results, and a success rate of more than 70% for permanent recovery from addiction. The Narconon program uses a sauna detoxification program that removes residues from the body that are left by drugs, thereby reducing physical cravings. The second half of the program addresses the mental and emotional aspects of addiction through a series of life skills course designed to increase the ability of the individual and return him to society a productive, ethical, contributing member.
The truth is that without enough allocations going to effective treatment, we will never be able to really do something about the drug problem. Funds appropriated toward drug rehab programs that get results with drug and alcohol addiction would be the smartest investment that we, as a society, could make. Then we would be providing a service that allows people to give back to the community, instead of taking from it.
If you or someone you know is looking for a successful drug rehab program contact Narconon by calling us directly at 877-237-3307.