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Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Financial Burden of Substance Abuse in West Virginia: Final Report in Series 1



The growing financial cost of drug and alcohol abuse puts tremendous pressure on every social sector. The present report, part of a larger Family Funding Study project, is final in the series that examined the
cost of drug and alcohol abuse to West Virginia’s criminal justice, healthcare, education, welfare, and workforce systems. This final summative report incorporates estimates from all these sectors as well as includes data from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) and the Commission on Drunk Driving prevention (CDDP).

The first part of this report examines the magnitude of substance abuse in West Virginia. Although the overall picture is useful, delving into regional and age group variations may lead to more targeted and effective efforts to combat substance abuse in the state. Hence, the first section also examines regional and age group differences in substance use and abuse. The second part of this report will present the total cost of substance abuse in the state based on findings from the previous five reports and financialdata from the CDDP and GHSP database.


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