Economic Effects of Drug Abuse

Drug and substance abuse negatively affects the user, family members, and society. Drug and substance abuse have been on the rise in many cosmopolitan areas worldwide. Illicit substances heavily impact healthcare provision, enforcement of law and order, governance, and productivity. This paper assesses the economic impacts of drug abuse in response to calls by a section of the global community to legalize illicit drug usage. It briefly analyses the key points that support the legalization of illegal drugs and pits them against the shortcomings of making harmful drugs available in the community. Insights into the economic costs will ensure effective remedial strategies to rescue the global community from a looming financial crisis.

Drug and substance abuse is a cankerworm that has burrowed deep into the foundations of society, cutting across all races, ethnicities, creeds, and social statuses. As more people become abusers, they lose their potential, creating an unhealthy society characterized by premature deaths from suicide, criminal activities, accidents, low productivity, wastage of human labor, and chronic morbidity. The struggle to sustain drug abuse and cope with dependency syndrome destroys relationships as abusers become burdensome to family members, society, and the state. Drug abuse and poverty exhibit an interconnection with foundations from both sides. Low-income individuals may resort to drug abuse to relieve stress related to their socioeconomic status. Inversely, drug abuse can deplete one’s financial resources, leading to poverty as it becomes difficult to care for oneself and family members. The struggle to eliminate drug abuse strains the national budget and trickles down to specific departments like healthcare and law enforcement. Drug and substance abuse profoundly burdens health provision, derails public safety, limits good governance, heightens criminal activity, and restricts individuals’ productivity.

Impact on Healthcare

Drug abuse creates various health-related problems with costly financial implications to healthcare provision. Society strives to provide treatment since previous researches show that intervention is more cost-effective compared to unchecked, continued abuse. Treatment, however, still ranks highly as the number of hospital visits related to drug abuse increases. Hospital visits result from overdoses, psychotic outbreaks, and adverse responses. Abusers also visit hospitals after committing drug-related crimes and being involved in drug-related accidents. Also, abusers are exposed to infectious illnesses that can be transmitted through sharing injection equipment, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and hepatitis B, and sexually transmitted infections stemming from irresponsible behavior under drug influence. Through prenatal exposure, children develop physical and psychological disorders that may warrant additional care that financially strains individuals and society. Later in life, children exposed to prenatal drug abuse may develop depression, delinquency, anxiety, and limited cognitive development and require more attention compared to non-user parents’ children (Cartwright, 2008, p. 230). The various health conditions cost up to $3,302 annually (Cartwright, 2008, p. 225). Treatment, prevention, health provision, monitoring, public education, rehabilitation, and research costs require funds in addition to the recurrent cardiovascular, hormonal, mental health, neurological, cancerous, and organ damage effects.

Public Safety Threat

Illicit drug users present costly public safety risks to the environment and those around them, including drug-related driving accidents and the environmentally harmful farming, production, manufacturing, and disposal of prohibited drugs. Drugs like cannabis impair the user’s perception, reaction, coordination, attention, and cognition, thus risking their lives and other motorists and pedestrians. Accidents translate to financial losses through hospital visits, morbidity, lawsuits, and repair of vehicles, property, and infrastructure. Property damage makes up part of 69% of drug-related crime costs to society (Cartwright, 2008, p. 227).  Illicit production of drugs and pharmaceuticals contaminates the environment since they involve various harmful chemicals. Active ingredients enter surface and groundwater and are absorbed by plants and aquatic animals, continually exposing non-users and wildlife to low quantities of toxic chemicals. Cultivation of the coca bush, cannabis, and opium results in environmental degradation as they cause deforestation and take up land that could be used for food production. Environmental impacts require extensive remedial measures that are costly to society. In conflict-prone zones, drugs are used to lure and engage children in armed conflicts and terrorist activities, ultimately exposing them to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse that requires finances for treatment and rehabilitation.

Increase in Crime

Violence committed under the influence of drugs is a significant problem globally since abusers develop impaired judgment and are more inclined to engage in risky behavior compared to users. Drug users may engage in criminal activities like fraud, burglary, and robbery to sustain their drug dependency and addiction. Disputes over ‘drug turf’ are common among gangs and drug sellers on the streets throughout cities worldwide. Fighting results in property damage, morbidity, the need for many law enforcement officers, costly judicial procedures, and incarceration that exert financial strain on society. In the US, crime careers, incarceration, and drug-related crime victims amount to $57 billion in losses through predatory crime, tragic homicide, injuries, and civic duties like reporting crime and testifying (Cartwright, 2008, p. 227). Parents who abuse drugs are surrounded by relatives and friends who use drugs and risk exposing their children to physical and emotional harm. The community is responsible for inculcating moral values into the youth, and communities where drugs are common may negatively impact their youth (Eric, 2017, p. 52). Growing up in such environments may influence children to engage in crime as adults compared to children raised in drug-free neighborhoods.

Limited Productivity

Drug users lose productivity as they experience the short-term and long-term consequences of the drugs, like the inability to function normally, treatment, or incarceration. Lost productivity refers to the work that could have been done if the individual’s output were not limited by drug use. It includes the death of individuals in the workforce, hospital visits, and ambulatory care. During incarceration or treatment, drug users cannot engage in productive work, education, or training, resulting in more economic losses in addition to the cost of treatment and confinement. When a young person dies from drug-use-related issues, the economy suffers the loss of a legitimate income producer (Cartwright, 2008, p. 227). When incarcerated due to drug-related crimes, inmates are less productive than free individuals, as they only engage in prison work programs. Among young adults, unemployment rates are associated with the increased sale and use of marijuana and other illicit substances (Azagba et al., 2021, p. 2). Drug users exhibit reduced output capacity in their homes and workplaces. As a result, the decrease in employment and salaries among abusers is about $24 billion (Cartwright, 2008, p. 227). Drug users struggle to get and hold jobs, achieve promotions, or get pay raises.

Impact on Governance

The government is tasked with ensuring order in society and is constantly in conflict with drug users due to their tendency to destabilize societal systems. Governments enact laws and are tasked with legalizing and outlawing drugs based on expert advice. Drug-related chaos creates an adverse atmosphere for investors, negatively impacting the Gross National Product (Eric, 2017, p. 50). Drug traffickers exploit weak governments, corrupt government officials, and law enforcement officers to establish new markets and routes and to engage in criminal activities unobstructed. Modern governments permit individuals to cultivate illicit opium poppy, cannabis, and coca, which detrimentally affect the environment and the community.  Locals suffer when illegal drug businesses thrive in their communities due to reduced security levels and other drug production and sale hazards. In some cases, illicit activities thrive since government directives are not implemented and are treated as mere paperwork (Eric, 2017, p. 52). The government is tasked with creating jobs for its people and providing social services, which, when inadequate, may trigger instances of drug abuse. Unemployment may lead to drug use to cope with difficult situations, while limited social amenities may trigger drug use as a form of diversion or entertainment.

Legalizing Illicit Drugs

The argument that legalizing illicit drugs will lead to reduced drug usage presents more economic challenges due to increased access to harmful substances. While supporters of the idea suggest that making the drugs common may limit their impacts, research has shown that legalizing drugs increases their consumption. In 2017, of the 74,000 people who died of alcohol-related problems, 36,000 died of legal alcohol-related causes (Azagba et al., 2021, p. 2). There are an average of 2 million alcohol-related arrests in the US yearly because of the limited government control over alcohol compared to other drugs. The government may also spend more on law enforcement costs since unchecked drug use will cause a spike in crime, leading to more arrests. The judicial system may also experience an increase in cases, police and witness protection, require court expansion, and increased correctional facilities. Legalizing drugs to deprive criminal organizations of revenues may be counterproductive, as the gangs will engage in illicit activities alongside legitimate businesses. Also, income from the legal sale of tobacco and alcohol does not outweigh the socioeconomic costs of their use. The government should engage in deliberate measures to limit drug abuse, as they have proven detrimental to economic well-being.

Conclusion

Drug abuse has profound economic effects on healthcare, public safety, governance, crime, and productivity.  Individuals lose finances and sever family relationships to sustain addiction, engage in risky behavior that leads to accidents and infections, and lose jobs due to unproductivity. Drug abuse thus negatively impacts the health sector. Incarceration and death limit community economic development through the wastage of human labor. The financial impacts of drug abuse are far-reaching and require bold actions, for instance, illegalizing tobacco and alcohol, and streamlining government organs to eliminate corrupt officials who collaborate with criminals.