Costs related to alcohol and drug abuse continue to escalate.

• According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), community hospitals in the U.S. treated nearly 210,000 patients for alcohol abuse disorders in 2003 at a cost of $2 billion^a.
  
• Sixty-five percent of all hospital admissions primarily for alcohol abuse disorders also involved a substance disorder^a.
  
• Another study estimated the economic cost of drug abuse was $180.8 billion in 2002, up 31 percent from 1992^b.

*Other includes costs associated with the criminal justice system, crime victim costs, and expenses for administration of the social welfare system.

Source: ^aRusso, CA et al. (2006) Hospitalizations for Alcohol Abuse Disorders, 2003. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ^bExecutive Office of the President, Office of the National Drug Control Policy (2004) “The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the U.S.”