Addiction rehab programs do what they can to keep costs low, and they might even offer their treatment programs on a sliding fee scale based on the client’s ability to pay, but even so, there are bills involved in care. Clients may need to cover their insurance copays, for example, and they may need to make the sliding scale payments even when they’re missing work in order to obtain addiction care. It could be easy enough for people to believe that they can just skip these fees altogether and return to a life of addiction, as doing so might save the family a little bit of money. Unfortunately, people who try to save by not going to rehab may find that they are asked to pay an even higher price, and their communities might have costs to bear as well.

Individual Costs

While rehab programs might seem expensive, maintaining an addiction can also be costly. Prescription drug dealers can charge triple or even quadruple for the little pain pills they sell, when compared to above-board pharmacists, and people might need to take handfuls of these drugs each day to keep withdrawals from taking hold. Heroin addicts, cocaine addicts and alcoholics aren’t immune to this phenomenon, either, as they also need to take larger and larger doses of the drugs they’re addicted to as their diseases progress.

People who stay out of rehab might also develop serious medical complications, including:

• Tissue infections
• Organ failures
• Blood-borne infections
• Severe weight loss
• Heart disease

At times, these conditions are caused by the method the user chooses for drugs, but addictions can also make people impulsive, and they can begin to take risks with their health. For example, a study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes found that people who didn’t get help for a needle-based addiction were more likely to borrow needles, and this could lead to blood-borne infections like HIV/AIDS. Serious medical conditions like this can further reduce a person’s ability to work, and they can end up costing the family yet more money in medical treatments.

While illness caused by addiction can be distressing, some people who abuse drugs simply don’t emerge from the experience alive. They take doses that overwhelm the body’s delicate systems, and they stop breathing or their hearts stop beating. They may lose their lives in a room full of people who are enjoying their drugs, or they may feel their lives slip away when they’re all alone and wondering how they can make things better. It’s a terrible price to pay, and unfortunately many people pay this cost each year.

Costs to the Community

People who are addicted to drugs pay a high price for their conditions, but the communities in which they live also take a hit, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that addiction costs the economy $524 billion per year. This is a large number, and it stems from many sources, including health care costs and loss of productivity. The figure also includes law enforcement activity, including incarceration. People who don’t get help may feel persecuted by the drug laws around them, but the taxpayers fund those laws and pay for those police officers and the prison bars they use to keep offenders in place to serve their time. These are funds that could easily go to more helpful places, such as schools or playgrounds or parks.

Drugs can also take a toll on the health of the community. People don’t feel safe, when they’re surrounded by neighbors who are impaired and desperate for money, and the sense of community can begin to wane. People don’t interact and they don’t help one another, and property values begin to decline as drug houses proliferate. It’s hard to put a price on the death of a neighborhood, but it’s clear that drugs can cause intense damage like this that could be harmful for entire groups of people.

Balancing the Scales

Addiction rehab programs can help people to overcome their individual addictions, so they can learn how to keep destructive impulses at bay and regain the robust health they once had. With each person who chooses to say “no” to addiction, the community can heal just a little bit. Each person’s recovery can have a ripple effect, impacting everyone who comes into contact with that person. We’d like to help you be that catalyst for change. At Axis, we offer detox, rehab and outpatient transitional care. Please call us to find out more.