Is It Time to End the War on Drugs? - King County Bar Association

SECTION IIDRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT:THE NEED FOR RESOURCES1. Drug addiction is a source of serious and costly problems in Washing<strong>to</strong>n.The consequences of drug addiction are expensive and far-reaching. The “economiccosts of . . . drug abuse in Washing<strong>to</strong>n” for <strong>the</strong> year 1996 were analyzed in a studysponsored and published by <strong>the</strong> Washing<strong>to</strong>n State Division of Alcohol and SubstanceAbuse. The <strong>to</strong>tal cost identified was $2.54 billion. Fifty-nine percent of <strong>the</strong> economic costswere attributable <strong>to</strong> alcohol and 41% <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> use of o<strong>the</strong>r drugs. 97 The study also reported16,000 hospital discharges in 1996 classified as drug-related, as well as 2,824 deaths. Of <strong>the</strong>deaths, 2,318 were alcohol-related and 506 were related <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r drugs. 98The $2.54 billion dollar figure cited above includes both costs <strong>to</strong> Washing<strong>to</strong>nresidents individually and costs reflected in <strong>the</strong> state budget. Focusing more narrowly on <strong>the</strong>impact of addictions on state budgets, a recent national report showed that public spendingfor 1998 <strong>to</strong> “shovel up <strong>the</strong> wreckage of substance abuse” cost <strong>the</strong> State of Washing<strong>to</strong>n $1.51billion – more than 10% of <strong>the</strong> state budget. 99Harder <strong>to</strong> quantify, but no less significant, is <strong>the</strong> emotional and physical sufferingattributable <strong>to</strong> drug addiction. The well-being of individuals and families is compromised.Drug addiction contributes <strong>to</strong> child abuse and neglect, family disintegration and divorce,teen pregnancy, poor school performance, homelessness and suicide. Health conditionsassociated with addiction range from accident-related injuries <strong>to</strong> HIV infection and AIDS. 100The relation of injection drug use <strong>to</strong> AIDS has been a particular cause for concern.“From 1982-1994, 18% of diagnosed AIDS cases in Washing<strong>to</strong>n State were traceable <strong>to</strong>possible exposure from injection drug users (IDUs). In 1999, this percentage had risen <strong>to</strong>28%. Nationally, about two-thirds of new HIV infections each year are attributable <strong>to</strong> druguse.” 101 A look at illustrative numbers describing drug addiction among Washing<strong>to</strong>nresidents arrested on criminal charges is revealing. More than 60% of people arrested forany crime in Seattle and Spokane in <strong>the</strong> period from July 1998 through June 1999, forexample, tested positive for some drug use. Of those arrested in Spokane for drugpossession crimes, 96% of men and 92% of women tested positive for drugs; of thosearrested for drug sales 93% of men and 100% of women tested positive. 102Significantly, 43% of arrested men and 44% of arrested women (with drug or nondrugcharges) in Spokane said <strong>the</strong>y would like treatment. And, of those who tested positivefor drugs, 60% of men and 55% of women reported that <strong>the</strong>y had children at home. (Whathappens <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>se children? Many experience neglect and are consigned <strong>to</strong> an overburdenedfoster care system.)44