cannabisnews.com: Report Blasts State Drug Abuse Priorities Report Blasts State Drug Abuse Priorities Posted by FoM on January 29, 2001 at 15:47:19 PT By Todd Zwillich Source: Reuters Health State governments are spending billions of dollars to pay for the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse while giving scant attention to prevention and treatment efforts, a private research center reported Monday.The group called for a "revolution" in spending priorities, showing that states spend an average of 96 cents of every dollar in their substance-abuse budgets to cover cost increases that drug and alcohol abusers bring to law enforcement, social services and healthcare. Meanwhile, just 4 cents in each dollar go to drug abuse prevention, treatment or research.Altogether, states spent $81.3 billion--more than 13% of their combined total operating budgets of $620 billion--covering the damage wrought by drug addiction on public programs in 1998. Alcohol was the biggest drain, accounting for $9.2 billion in state spending."It's an incredibly lopsided way to deal with the problem of substance abuse. We need a revolution in the way governors and state legislators look at this problem," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The center spent 3 years analyzing spending in 45 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to generate the report.Figures were even more lopsided for the cost of substance abuse among children. There, the report found that only $1 out of every $113 spent on juvenile justice, child welfare, and other areas goes to prevention and treatment.The center used studies linking substance abuse to public spending in order to estimate the impact of drug use on government budgets in each state. The numbers do not include the federal share of education, welfare programs or Medicaid. They also do not account for the effect of substance abuse on private insurance costs and lost workplace productivity."We think this report significantly underestimates the impact of substance abuse on state budgets," said Califano, who was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter.North Dakota topped the list of prevention and treatment spending, paying $10.22 for such programs for every $89.71 it spent covering the burden of substance abuse on social programs and law enforcement. Colorado was at the bottom, spending 6 cents on prevention and treatment for every $99.94 it spent on the burden.Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Texas did not participate in the survey.Califano said that states should eliminate mandatory sentencing laws for drug offenders that "remove the carrot" motivating addicts to get treatment in jail. Instead, states should require drug testing and treatment for substance users who are involved in the criminal justice system or are welfare recipients, he said.He cited one study from Oregon that showed states saving $5 in social programs for each dollar spent on drug abuse treatment. Another study from the Rand Corporation showed savings of up to $7 for each dollar spent on prevention and treatment, according to the report.The report also found that states spent nearly $31 billion covering the impact of substance abuse on incarceration, probation and other costs to the criminal justice system, 10 times as much as spent on average for drug treatment. Such high costs have spurred some to call for the legalization of some drugs as a way to cut costs in the justice system and stem prison overcrowding.Califano rejected the idea of legalization in an interview with Reuters Health, calling it a "disaster everywhere it has been tried."He explained, "The cost of the explosion in drug use we would have would dwarf the savings we would get" by legalizing drugs.National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse: http://www.casacolumbia.org Source: ReutersAuthor: Todd ZwillichPublished: January 29, 2001 Copyright: 2001 ReutersRelated Articles: Report on State Drug Abuse Costs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8494.shtml US Report Details Losses in Drug Fight http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8196.shtmlUse of Drugs by Teens Spiked During Clinton Yearshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8194.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by observer on January 31, 2001 at 14:32:28 PT FYI: CU NORML: The CASA Project see:''... Every few months, Califano sends a fresh series of statistics coursing through the press. Examples include the claim that the proportion of female college students who get drunk on weekends has tripled over the past few decades. . .''http://www.columbia.edu/cu/norml/cproject.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by thelittlechild on January 30, 2001 at 10:36:11 PT: piiiiiiieeeeeeee is good aaaaaaaaah i likes pie. :D pie good. DO NOT BE A 3.14! (pi) bwuhahahaha talk 2 me!! i am a 67 year old woman with nothing better 2 do!! noooooooo not the restraints! aaah..dats good..mor..phine.. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Not To Worry on January 29, 2001 at 21:03:11 PT A Change In Tone? "Califano rejected the idea of legalization in an interview with Reuters Health, calling it a "disaster everywhere it has been tried."He explained, "The cost of the explosion in drug use we would have would dwarf the savings we would get" by legalizing drugs." First of all, his first statement is an outright lie. Legalization of currently illicit drugs has never been tried, at least not in recent times. Holland for example, has not even legalized pot. If they had, they would be violating International law. Their approach is much more mature than ours. They have sided with real science in realizing that pot is not the same as cocaine or heroin. They have wisely provided coffee shop's with the ability to distribute small amounts of pot to adult's that desire it. This separates pot user's from a distribution network that might provide harder drug's. The result's have been successful. Their marijuana use rates are a bit lower than ours, and the use of harder drug's, has been dramatically reduced. The harder drug's are treated primarily as a health problem. The results are lower crime rates, and murder rates. Of course, their prison's are not stuffed full of nonviolent, non-criminal's, as ours are. These modern day prohibitionist's hate the truth, because it interferes with their belief system's. Rocket scientist's, they are not. They do have an agenda, but that's about it. Having said all of that, I do sense a subtle shift in tactics by the pot hater's. Perhaps their smoke and mirror's are beginning to wear thinner, because of the Internet. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by mungojelly on January 29, 2001 at 20:01:21 PT: "disaster everywhere it has been tried." Liberal drug policies have been a disaster everywhere they have been tried, for instance in Holland, where their murder rate is twice ours. IOW asking them for examples isn't going to bother them. They have plenty of examples. They just make them up. I'm surprised they even bother to use the names of real countries, since most Americans wouldn't know the difference if they just made up a country: "We can't legalize! Look what happened to Flekstbloomia! They legalized drugs and now their murder rate is 61,000 times ours and they all have hair on their palms!" [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by observer on January 29, 2001 at 16:12:38 PT Bottom Line: Attack On ''Legalization'' .... Instead, states should require drug testing and treatment for substance users who are involved in the criminal justice system or are welfare recipients, he said.What he says: "substance users"What he wants you to think: "hard-core crack and heroin addicts, meth tweakers in rags selling their bodies for another fix"What he means: "adults who's only 'crime' is using marijuana" ... Such high costs have spurred some to call for the legalization of some drugs as a way to cut costs in the justice system and stem prison overcrowding. Califano rejected the idea of legalization in an interview with Reuters Health, calling it a "disaster everywhere it has been tried."Really, Joey? Why don't you give us a fer-instance? Can't do that? Want people to believe your source-less assertions, anyway? Not been a "disaster", in these places:Holland.Switzerland.Portugal.Spain.Belgium.Germany (soon).I think Joey means to say, "disaster for government bureaucrats seeking ever more power over people, at the expens of traditional rights over their very own bodies." or "disaster for police budgets that rely on 'seizure' of 'drug kingpin' (user's) assets."He explained, "The cost of the explosion in drug use we would have would dwarf the savings we would get" by legalizing drugs.Right, Joey. That's why you squeal so much when people talk about having their traditional freedoms restored.(That's propaganda theme #3, "The survival of the culture is pictured as being dependent on the prohibition of the drug." http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/ticp.html )The "bottom line" attack on "legalization" is the real point of this propaganda article. We'll see stepped up attacks on "legalization" as more and more people start seeing through the lies of prohibition. They are getting increasingly desperate. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: