Substance Abuse- Addiction-  Impacts everyone!

Monetary
Cost of Addiction is More than $440 Billion a year........

American's are baffled.  Addiction is a treatable, preventable disease yet millions are suffering.  In addition state governments are force dedicate too much of their budgets to clean up efforts as seen in the "Shoveling up the Impact" (CASA) report on state costs related to untreated addiction. A lack of effective treatment and prevention services combined with family histories, and exposure to ample supplies of addictive substances has our country and millions of Americans pleading for help and hope. There is great hope, countless organizations across the U.S. are working to improve our systems. HopeNetworks believes we will soon see a day when treatment, support, and recovery, become as available as the addictive substances in your community. Imagine a day when recovery is more common than untreated addiction. 

Today there is work to do. 
Regardless of who you are, what profession, your education, your race, religion, or political beliefs or non beliefs, you are impacted by addiction.  Like the plague itself, there are no persons in the U.S. free from the impact of addiction.  The lack of education and awareness by the general public is as rampant as the problem itself!  People,  are indeed funding the clean up efforts for a problem that  can be prevented and treated with unbelievable savings both in lives and dollars.  This is a concept that  must be  brought to the forefront of every state's political arena. 

The cost alone are staggering, according to our government, more than $440 Billion dollars last year alone.  Addiction is often overlooked as a root cause for social ills, like domestic abuse, crime, poverty, lack of education, etc.  The truth is treating those "social ills" with literacy programs, anger management, economic development efforts, etc without treating the disease of addiction is wasteful. Finding treatment and comprehensive services is far more effective for long term improvements in communities.    
 

Get Active!
What you can do
Costs can be reduced, and our country affords each of us a personal solution to work on these issues.  We can support policy makers who identify these costs, and welcome solutions.  Treating and preventing substance abuse must be a priority.  Using state tax payer monies to continue to clean up the social ills we all know too well related to untreated addiction must be discouraged.  Get active in HopeNetworks, and help us help others in your local area.  Telephone calls, e-mails, personal meetings with those elected officials in your city and state can make all the difference.   One thing that is clear, a desire to improve the communities we work, and raise families in, is our responsibility.  We elect those in who make our laws.  We are always in a position to elect, support, or not support those who represent our interest. If you are registered to vote, please vote. In addition, volunteer to work in your area to help those who may not realize the power of their vote, and how it can work to reduce the impact of addiction in their local area and our nation as a whole.  Also if you are in recovery check out our project focused on Advocacy in Recovery!

The System-
Addiction is called America's number one Public Health Crisis.  Yet the stigma that acts as a barrier, preventing those in need of help from seeking it, remains strong.  National estimates say that 1 in 4 American's is directly impacted by someone in need of help for an alcohol or drug problem.

Research
Addiction is a brain disease.  It is not a moral failing, a lack of will power, or a personal defect.  Addiction, is a chronic relapsing disease, meaning similar diseases (Heart Disease, Diabetes) the recovery process is ongoing and often a relapse may be normal process for those in the recovery process.
Learn more about addiction, and recovery, and the science behind the disease...click here to get information on   Addiction Science-  

The Conflict
Please remember that the very tax dollars that you spend to have research conducted, to  learn that "addiction is a disease" are the same tax dollars are used to incarcerate, and prosecute, addicts.  More than 26million people need help.  We hear over and over that funding is limited,  waiting lists are long, and insurance won't cover treatment necessary for recovery. 

Alcohol is said to be the most abused drug in the country.  Knowing that addiction is both genetic and environmental in nature, why do we promote illness?  Many believe that promoting alcohol sales, promotes illness, expensive illness!  It is a catch 22 for people thru no fault of their own are genetically inclined to become very good customers for the legal drug industries.  When medical help is needed they are often shamed in society, put on waiting lists, etc.
Many people believe that this would not be allowed if it were not for the political and financial power of these industries.  How can a family with this history of moral failings stand up to these industries and others to ask for change, to promote better health for their children that will follow? 

Treatment and Prevention work.

 There are millions of recovering  people across the globe, many in your community!   The purpose of HopeNetworks.org is to network communities, with resources available in their area/city/state, a community clearinghouse of sorts. Technology today makes this possible. 

Heart Act is Federal Legislation that helps to end discrimination against those in need of Treatment for Addiction.  Millions need treatment, but don't have access-Go here to show your  support!







Policy
Policy is the term used to describe the way our law makers, respond to substance abuse, or alcohol and drug addiction.  There are many issues related to this topic and many groups who work on certain aspects.  There are those who work to improve the laws as they relate to Prevention especially in youth, Access to Treatment, Research, Education, Crime/Criminal Justice, National, State, Local,  and on and on.  Addiction impacts almost every area of our lives.  The costs are enormous.  Even those who believe they are not impacted by addiction should consider the costs they cover with their tax dollars. 
Recent research, calls for increased excise taxes, and less marketing and soliciting of youth by the alcohol industry. See the 2003 NAS Report on Alcohol related risks to youth, identified strategy to reduce the harm to our young people.

Change
Many national, state, and local groups are doing what they can to work toward a solution.  Like the disease, there is no simple fix to cure our communities, to un-do years and years of effect brought about by untreated family cycles of addiction..  Efforts that are far reaching, and comprehensive stand to bring the most impact in reducing the impact of untreated addiction in our communities.  With more than 26million people in need of treatment, we have a great deal of work to do, to make improvements.

 

Family/Faith/Community
For years, many have sought support, and recovery from alcohol and drug abuse/addiction in their communities.  Church's, Synagogues, and 12Step fellowships (Like AA, NA, GA) have brought help and healing to countless family's.  Spiritual growth and change often are the cornerstone for restoration, and the spirit of this movement is strong.  Federal entities have begun to realize that recovery for many begins in a spiritual place, and is a "cog" in the wheel of efforts needed to restore our communities.

New
Download the Peter Heart Survey, showing Alcohol Advertising is troubling to parents
read the summary & press release  here

Medical
Addiction Treatment professionals are credentialed professionals that are trained to specifically treat addiction. Part of the ongoing problem is that many "Family" physicians do not have the training or awareness necessary to address the needs of  those with alcohol or drug addiction This problem goes even further when you consider the number of children at risk simply by their genetic makeup.  Organizations like the AMA (American Medical Association)  have clear platforms identifying the health consequences related to addiction. Not all Social Workers, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, are able to correctly identify the disease.  Yet it remains  our number one public health problem.  Medical Societies like ASAM, and trade groups that support other Addiction Treatment Professionals, are working to assist the medical community in readily identifying those in need of treatment for this illness, as well as working to change healthcare coverage to assist families in gaining affordable access to treatment and prevention services.

Your Doctor's office
There is a need to educate the medical community and healthcare providers on substance abuse/addiction related illness.  Many believe the path to our nations problems will find root in your local doctor's office.  This certainly would assist reducing the stigma many addicts face in their communities.  Addiction to alcohol and other illegal drugs, is not a moral failing, or weakness of character, it is a disease like other chronic disease.  Your doctor  diagnosis's and provides referral/and or treatment for our healthcare concerns, so why should they not get educated on our nation's number one public health problem? 

Ask you doctor how he much he /she knows about addiction, tell them it is a concern for you, and your family and encourage their participation in local policy matters.

National Drug Policy does not Include our nations number one abused drug

Alcohol is a drug and it kills some 100,000 people a year.  We wonder why is it not part of our nations "Drug" Policy?
 Drug Policy...Alcohol is a drug Right?

Another Public Health Problem-No warning label









New Data from the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

 

• Louisiana has not committed the dollars and energy necessary to research, treat, or prevent addiction.  We are now feeling the sting and consequence.
• Louisiana is not financially able to support continued clean up of untreated addiction, rates of incarceration in Louisiana are the highest in the nation for both juvenile and adult populations.  We simply can't afford to continue, not treating those with addiction related illness.

• The heaviest burden of substance abuse and addiction on public spending falls on the states and programs of localities that states support.  Of the two million prisoners in the United  States, more than 1.8 million are in state and local institutions.

• States run the Medicaid programs where smoking and alcohol abuse impose heavy burdens in cancer, heart disease and chronic and debilitating respiratory ailments and where drug use is the largest cause of new AIDS cases.
  
  States fund and operate child welfare systems--social services, family courts, foster care and adoption agencies--where at least 70 percent of the cases of abuse and neglect stem from alcohol- and drug-abusing parents.

Addiction is a disease--a chronic, relapsing one--that, untreated, has nasty and costly social consequences: illness, disability, death, learning disabilities, poor school performance, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, crime--to name a few. Our fear of these consequences often leads us to respond with tough sanctions. It is of course important to hold individuals accountable for their conduct. But the first line of defense is prevention and we can do a much better job at it. Treatment is no sure bet, but success rates of good programs exceed those of many long shot cancer therapies on which we spend millions of dollars. And if we fail to treat the disease, there is little hope of stemming these consequences.
 

Hidden Costs to State Budgets

Investment in prevention and treatment. The most significant opportunity to reduce the burden of substance abuse on public programs is through targeted and effective prevention programs. If we can keep children from smoking cigarettes, using illicit drugs and abusing alcohol until they are 21, they are virtually certain never to do so.

Treatment is also a cost-effective intervention as it both reduces the costs to state programs in the short term and avoids future costs. States should make targeted interventions on selected populations that hold promise for high return:

Prisoners whose substance abuse problems make them more likely to return to the criminal justice systems after parole or release.  Clients in the mental health system whose substance abuse problems increase the probability that they will cycle back into mental hospitals or emergency rooms.  Parents of children in the foster care system whose abuse of alcohol or drugs interferes with their ability to care for their children at home.

Linking Expenditures to Substance Abuse  Substance abuse causes and exacerbates costs states bear. Certain cancers, for example, may be caused by smoking or drinking or both, or abuse of these substances may be a contributing factor to the illness (e.g., an estimated 88 percent of lung cancers in men are attributable to smoking and 13 percent of stomach ulcers are attributable to alcohol abuse).11 Likewise, addiction may actually cause child abuse and neglect, violent crime or mental illness or it may be one of the contributing factors. The bottom-line for states is that substance abuse must be treated or prevented in order to reduce spending and avoid future costs. This report establishes the categories of state spending tightly linked to tobacco, alcohol and drug (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD) abuse--the targets for policy intervention.