Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse, Inc.

SCoSA promotes Substance Abuse Free Environments [SAFE]

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September, 2005/ B2B Magazine

 

Economic Cost of Substance Abuse in the Millions

 

Curtis Lavarello | Executive Director

Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse

 

While some may rarely scan a newspaper article about a local drug arrest, or the increase of youth using drugs, many will stop and take a second look if they know the cost of such acts are coming directly from their pocket.  Sadly, the other time that we take a serious look at substance abuse is when it personally affects us, often by way of a tragedy or the loss of a loved one.  The Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse formed in 1999 just that way, following the tragic deaths of several Sarasota County youth at the hands of DUI.  A number of community leaders came together and began addressing the impact that substance abuse had on our community.  Then headed by community activist and visionary Roland Liebert, the coalition members, which included the courts, the school district, law enforcement, public defender, state attorney and others rolled up their sleeves in an attempt to highlight the importance of being unified for a common, and good cause.

 

Today the coalition continues to advocate on issues that impact our community.  In 2000, the coalition sanctioned a study that revealed some staggering numbers, in terms of what those economic costs were in Sarasota County.  The study concluded that the total economic cost to Sarasota was in excess of $216,950,000 dollars.  That can be broken down as follows:

  • Substance abuse related crime cost:                                        $121,750,000

  • Health care costs due to substance abuse:                                $  56,800,000 

  • Lost productivity losses due to substance abuse:                        $  38,400,000

To put these figures into their right context, one should consider the following: the 2005 budget to run Sarasota County was just over $850 million, so approximately one quarter of the entire budget to run a county of this size is spent on substance abuse related issues.  While researchers have all agreed that for each dollar spent on substance abuse prevention and treatment programs between $7 and $15 is saved, there are still many critics that tend to feel government dollars ought to be spent on other programs.  Substance abuse often times gets low priority on the funding scales, and in many cases the complexity of the problem is not realized until we are personally touched by the harmful effects.

 

In Sarasota County, we face even more complex issues in that over 60% of our population is over 55.  As such, we often don't visualize substance abuse problems as the over medication of elderly, or addiction to pain medications by the elderly.  If we asked each generation to paint a picture reflective of substance abuse, we'd have many different pictures, ranging from a strung out man in his 20's lying in the street, to a young person addicted to meth, or the date rape drugs that soured in popularity in the late 90s.  Because of our diverse makeup, we play witness to many who emphasize the dangers of one drug, when using another from the parent who permits a youth party with alcohol, to the baby boomer who has "no problem with a little marijuana".  Our own thoughts and upbringing often play into the equation of just how serious we view the problem.

 

The one thing that remains crystal clear is that unless we as a county elect to embrace the problem as a society issue, we will continue to pour our dollars into cleaning up the aftermath, and dealing with higher crime and medical costs.  Elected leaders have to know and hear from the community at large that we'd rather spend prevention dollars now, and invest in the savings for our community later.  In many ways Sarasota County does place substance abuse high on the priority scale, yet numbers indicate we can do better.

 

For additional information about joining the coalition and their efforts, call 941-922-SAFE, or visit the coalition on the website www.SCoSA.org.
 

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